Charles Barkla
JUN 07, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031237
Today is the birthday of physicist Charles Barkla, born in Widnes, England, in 1877. He studied under Oliver Lodge at University College, Liverpool and worked with J.J. Thomson at Trinity College, Cambridge. Barkla’s work focused on x-ray scattering. In 1906 he and C.A. Sadler showed that when an element is irradiated with x rays, its electrons deflect the radiation and produce a unique spectrum. The work earned Barkla the 1917 Nobel Prize in Physics. Barkla also observed the polarization of x rays, proving that they are electromagnetic waves just like visible light.
Date in History: 7 June 1877
© 2016. American Institute of Physics