Educated at Hanson School, Bradford and St John's College, Cambridge; first class honours in the natural science tripos 1914; fellow of St John's College 1919; assistant demonstrator in physics at the Cavendish Laboratory 1920; undertook research on radio waves and the ionosphere; Wheatstone professor of physics at King's College, London 1924-1936; Jacksonian professor of natural philosophy at Cambridge 1936-1939; secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 1939-1949; closely concerned with the development of radar and secret work on the atomic bomb.

When Charles Darwin was seconded to the position of director of the Central Scientific Office, British Supply Council, in Washington DC, during the 1939-1945 war, Appleton became Acting Director of NPL from March to August 1941.

He was knighted in 1941, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1947.

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