Charles Glover Barkla (1877-1944)

Physicist and Nobel laureate

Charles Glover Barkla was born in Widnes on 7 June 1877. He won scholarships to study mathematics and experimental physics at University College Liverpool and the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. In 1909 he was appointed Wheatstone professor of physics at King's College London and in 1913 professor of natural philosopy at the University of Edinburgh. One of his doctoral students was the physicist Marion Ross. His main area of research was on the scattering and diffusion of x-rays. Key results were his demonstration that x-rays could be polarised and that the number of electrons in an atom was linked to atomic weight. In 1912 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1917 Charles Glover Barkla was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in recognition of 'his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements'.

Death in 1944

Charles Glover Barkla, 67, university professor, died at 12 noon on 23 October 1944. The entry in the statutory register of deaths for the district of Morningside in the city of Edinburgh shows he was married to Mary Esther Cowell and the place of death was his home 'Braidwood' in Corrennie Gardens. His parents are named as John Martin Barkla, company secretary and Sarah Glover.

Death entry for Charles Glover Barkla (60 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1944/685-7/903