William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence

Bragg Biography
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Nationality
English
Occupation
physicist

The team of William Henry and William Lawrence Bragg is certainly one of themost
scientifically productive in history. Combining their intellect and research skills, they succeeded
in constructing the first X-ray spectroscope, establishing the science of X-ray crystallography .
They were jointly awarded the 1915 Nobel Prize for Physics and remain the only father-and-son
team ever so honored. William Henry Bragg was educated on the Isle of Man, at King William's
College. Always at the top of his classes, he was particularly talentedin mathematics. He entered
Cambridge at age nineteen to study physics under John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh (1842-
1919) and Sir Joseph J. Thomson (1856-1940). Thomson steered Bragg to an opening in the
physics and mathematics department at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Bragg
undertook the long sea voyage, becoming a professor in 1886. During the next eighteen years,he
would establish a reputation as a masterful lecturer; however, he published almost nothing and
until he was forty-one conducted no original research. The turning point in Bragg's career came
in 1906. As co-president of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, he was
expected to deliver an address. For his topic, Bragg chose the recent breakthroughs in
radioactivity that had been discovered by Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), MarieCurie,
and Pierre Curie (1859-1906). While researching the subject, Bragg became quite interested in it
himself; he found certain flaws in reasoning in the accounts he read and decided to conduct his
own research in the field. Forthe next two years he made his own not inconsequential
contributions to radiation physics, particularly in the study of alpha particle emission. He also
published his findings regularly, achieving worldwide respect. Meanwhile, hisson, William
Lawrence Bragg, was walking firmly in his father's footsteps: recognized as a child prodigy, the
younger Bragg entered the University of Adelaide when he was fifteen. He spent much time
observing and assisting with hisfather's research, and the two would often spend long nights
discussing their findings. William Lawrence Bragg was, in fact, the recipient of Australia'sfirst
medical X-ray examination, when his father used a home-built X-ray machine to examine his
fractured elbow. In 1909 the Braggs returned to England,William Henry to teach at Leeds,
William Lawrence to attend graduate coursesat Cambridge (he had graduated from Adelaide
when he was eighteen). At that time, the British scientific community was excited about Max
von Laue 's (1879-1960) discovery of X-ray diffraction. Laue had used a crystal to create a
diffraction pattern, proving that X-rays were transverse electromagnetic waves,like those of light.
Both Braggs immediately became intrigued by this discovery and discussed between them the
ramifications. William Lawrence developeda system of equations based upon the theory that
crystals were arranged in planes of molecules; using these equations (now known as Bragg's
law ), they began the series of experiments that culminated in the invention of the X-ray
spectroscope in 1913. They published their work in 1913 and that year were awarded the Nobel
Prize; then twenty-five, William Lawrence was the youngest person to win the prize. The first
application of the X-ray spectroscope was toexamine the structure of certain crystals. The Braggs
discovered that sodiumchloride crystals are not made of molecules at all, but rather patterns of
sodium ions and chloride ions, providing more support for the Bohr model of theatom. This early
experiment also served as the foundation for the science ofX-ray crystallography;
crystallography has since become an important tool for chemists and mineralogists and was the
key process in the research of DNA structure. Though their accomplishments as experimental
physicists gained thema place in the highest ranks of the scientific community, the Braggs each
possessed the ability to convey the wonders of science to the common man; William Henry was
a sought-after public speaker in Europe, and William Lawrence enjoyed writing science books
for children. William Henry Bragg was knighted in1920, William Lawrence Bragg in 1941.

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