Characters in Rutherford's life
William Lawrence
Bragg (1890-1971)
Born in Adelaide, Australia, WLB was the son of WHB (in other words, William Henry Bragg). If his father began (by correspondence) his collaboration with Ernest Rutherford from the beginnings of radioactivity, Willie (as he was called in his childhood) or Sir Lawrence (more formal and later name) saw his destiny linked to that of Rutherford for still more reasons.
Images (captions / sources):
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Wiliam Lawrence Bragg in 1915 / Nobel Foundation
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Circa 1902 / University of Adelaide WHB family .
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Around 1906, at the University / University of Adelaide
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Same image from 1915
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Around 1930 / SIA
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WLB and Alice, between 1935 and 1940 / PhysicsWorld .
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WLB and Alice in 1951 / Philosophy of Science .
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In 1961 / NPG .
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In 1968 / Mediatheque Lindau-Nobel .
Videos:
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Brief presentation of WLB's work, with testimony from his daughter Patience Thomson / Royal Institution
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WLB and his grandson in 1965 / Royal Institution
After graduating from high school at age 15, WLB entered the University of Adelaide, graduating at age 18. He then followed his whole family to England, when his father was appointed to Leeds.
The young student then joined JJ Thomson's team in Cambridge. It was there that he carried out the first experiments and above all the crucial deductions which guided his entire career: in 1912, aged only 22, he found the key to a mystery raised by researchers in Munich and that no one, neither the Germans, or even WHB, his father , had failed to understand. This concerned the deflection of X-rays by the crystals. He explained the phenomenon, established a mathematical law that bears his name and for this won, together with his father, the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics.
He was only 25 years old and remains to this day the youngest scientist to be crowned in this way.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The spirit, however, was not at the party: he heard the news on a battlefield and it followed other announcements far more dramatic: in the previous months, his younger brother, Robert, had been killed. He also lost his best friend, Cecil Hopkinson, in 1917.
Returning to Cambridge in 1919, he met a history student, Alice Hopkinson, to whom he quickly made a marriage proposal ... which she declined: she wanted to finish her studies first and enjoy life in CambridGE.
In 1919 he took over from Ernest Rutherford in Manchester , while the latter took over from JJ Thomson in Cambridge . He modified the lines of research to direct them towards his area of expertise: crystallography and the study of X-rays.
In 1921 he married Alice. They lived a true love story until the death of WLB fifty years later.
In 1937 he briefly served as director of the National Physical Laboratory, London.
The following year he again replaced Rutherford, who died on October 19, 1937.
He remained at the head of the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge until 1954.
He then returned to London, to take charge of the management of the Royal Institution (a position his father had occupied from 1923 to 1942).
Alice and Lawrence had four children: Stephen Lawrence (1923), David William (1926), Margaret Alice (1931), and Patience Mary (1935).
The youngest, Patience, will marry the grandson of Rose and Joseph John Thomson ,
We can see her recounting her memories of her father in the documentary opposite.
Lawrence Bragg's life was obviously very busy with science, but he also had other passions: gardening, bird watching and watercolor. In the already mentioned video, his daughter Patience can be seen showing off what he was capable of.
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The Legacy of Sir Lawrence Bragg : selections and reflections, John Meurig Thomas ; David Phillips
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Crystal Clear: The Autobiographies of Sir Lawrence and Lady Bragg, Anthony Michael Glazer, Patience Thomson
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Early Days of X-ray Crystallography, André Authier
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William Lawrence Bragg, David Phillips, Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society
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Light is a Messenger : the Life and Science of William Lawrence Bragg, Graeme Hunter, 2004