Biographical entry Bragg, William Lawrence (1890 - 1971)

Summary

William Lawrence Bragg was born and educated in Adelaide and then moved to England where he was Professor of Physics, Victoria University, Manchester 1919-37, at Cambridge 1938-54 and Director, 1954-66, of the Royal Institution. He shared the Nobel Prize in 1915 with his father, William Henry Bragg.

Details

Born Adelaide, 31 March 1890. Died Waldringfield, England, 1 July 1971. Educated University of Adelaide (BA 1908). OBE, MC, Kt 1941, Companion of Honour 1967. Fellow and lecturer in natural science, University of Cambridge 1914, work on sound-ranging for the artillery in France 1915-18; Professor of Physics, Victoria University, Manchester 1919-37, Director, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington 1937-38, Cavendish professor of experimental physics, Cambridge 1938-54, Director, Royal Institution 1954-66. Fellow, Royal Society 1921; Hughes 1931, Royal 1946 and Copley 1966 medals, Royal Society of London.

Related entries

Archival resources

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

• William H. Bragg and William L. (Lawrence) Bragg - Research Records of John Jenkin, MSS 0144; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• William Lawrence Bragg - Records, 1900 - 1970, DeB 477; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Jenkin, John, The Bragg Family in Adelaide: a Pictorial Celebration, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 1986. Details

Book Sections

• Beale, R, 'William and Lawrence Bragg', in Australia's Nobel Laureates - Adventures in Innovation, ABIE Australian Business and Investment Explorer, Sydney, 2004, pp. 24-33. Details
• Phillips, David, 'Sir William Lawrence Bragg, 1890-1971', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituaries: Oscar Ulrich Vonwiller: Clive Melville Harris: Charles Bickerton Blackburn: Lawrence Bragg', Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 106, no. 3/4, 1973, pp. 130-132. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'The 1901 Royal Visit to Adelaide: an Account by William and Gwendoline Bragg', Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, vol. 14, 1986, pp. 19-34. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'A Unique Partnership: William and Lawrence Bragg and the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics', Minerva, vol. 39, 2001, pp. 373-392. Details

Online Resources

• 'The Nobel Prize in Physics 1915 'for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays'', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/index.html. Details
• 'Sir William Lawrence Bragg - Biography', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/wl-bragg-bio.html. Details
• Granqvist, G., 'Nobel Prize in Physics 1915 - Presentation Speech', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/press.html. Details
• 'Bragg, Lawrence', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-458785. Details