We are all dwellers on this one small earth; we live one life, die one death; we have the same difficulties to contend with; we ought in common to fight the foes of ignorance and wrong.
Charles Glover Barkla was a British physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and the study of X-rays Roentgen rays.
Life
Barkla was born in Widnes, England, to John Martin Barkla, a secretary for the Atlas Chemical Company, and Sarah Glover, daughter of a watchmaker.
Barkla studied at the Liverpool Institute and proceeded to Liverpool University with a County Council Scholarship and a Bibby Scholarship. Barkla initially studied Mathematics but later specialised in Physics under Sir Oliver Lodge. During the absence of Oliver Lodge due to ill health, Barkla would replace him in lectures.
In 1899 Barkla was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, with an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, to work in the Cavendish Laboratory under the physicist J. J. Thomson discoverer of the electron. During his first two years at Cambridge, Barkla would, under the directions of Thomson, study the velocity of electromagnetic waves along wires of different widths and materials.
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Take the IQ test →After a year and a half at Trinity College, Cambridge, his love of music led him to transfer to King's College, Cambridge, in order to sing in their chapel choir. Barkla's voice was of remarkable beauty and his solo performances would always be fully attended. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1903, and then his Master of Arts degree in 1907. He married Mary Esther Cowell in the same year, with whom he would have two sons and one daughter.
In 1913, after having worked at the Universities of Cambridge, Liverpool, and King's College London, Barkla was appointed as a Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1913, a position that he held until his death.
Barkla made significant progress in developing and refining the laws of X-ray scattering, X-ray spectroscopy, the principles governing the transmission of X-rays through matter, and especially the principles of the excitation of secondary X-rays. For his discovery of the characteristic X-rays of elements, Barkla was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917. He was also awarded the Hughes Medal of the British Royal Society that same year.
Barkla proposed the J-phenomenon as a hypothetical form of X-ray behaviour similar to X-ray fluorescence but other scientists were not persuaded that this was a different mechanism from other known effects such as Compton scattering and so the theory was not successful.
From 1922 to 1938 he lived at Hermitage of Braid in south-west Edinburgh.
He died in Edinburgh on 23 October 1944.
Personal life
A religious man, Barkla was a Methodist and considered his work to be "part of the quest for God, the Creator".
Public recognition
The lunar crater Barkla was named in the honour of Charles Barkla.
A plaque exists on Barkla's house at Hermitage of Braid in Edinburgh. A commemorative plaque has been installed in the vicinity of the Canongate, near the Faculty of Education Buildings, at the University of Edinburgh. Additionally, a lecture theatre at the University of Liverpool's Physics department, as well as a Biophysics laboratory in the Biological science department, are named after him. In 2012 a gritter in Barkla's home town of Widnes was named in his honour, following a competition run by the local newspaper.
Top questions
Who was Charles Glover Barkla?
Charles Glover Barkla (1877 to 1944) was a British physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his discovery of characteristic X-rays. He was born in Widnes, England, and from 1913 until his death he was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.
What did Barkla discover about X-rays?
Barkla proved that X-rays can be polarised and are therefore electromagnetic. Studying secondary X-rays from gases in 1903, he built a new experimental setup and published a summary in Nature in March 1904 and a detailed account in 1905. He also refined the laws of X-ray scattering and X-ray spectroscopy and the excitation of secondary X-rays.
What was Barkla's J-phenomenon?
The J-phenomenon was Barkla's hypothetical form of X-ray behaviour, similar to X-ray fluorescence. It was not successful, because other scientists were not persuaded that it was a different mechanism from known effects such as Compton scattering.
Where did Charles Barkla study and teach?
Barkla studied physics at University College Liverpool under Oliver Lodge, graduating with First Class Honours in 1898. In 1899 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, to study under J. J. Thomson at the Cavendish Laboratory. He later held professorships at the University of London from 1909 and at the University of Edinburgh from 1913.
Why did Barkla move to King's College, Cambridge?
Barkla transferred from Trinity College to King's College, Cambridge, after about a year and a half because of his love of music, so that he could sing in its choir. His voice was of remarkable beauty and his solo performances were always fully attended.
How is Charles Barkla remembered?
Barkla crater on the Moon is named in his honour. Plaques commemorate him at Hermitage of Braid in Edinburgh, where he lived from 1922 to 1938, and near the University of Edinburgh's Faculty of Education buildings. A lecture theatre at the University of Liverpool and a gritter in his hometown of Widnes also carry his name.
