About
English physicist, chemist, mathematician, and active sportsman who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics for services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays alongside his son Lawrence Bragg.
Before Fame
He was educated at the Grammar School, at King William's College on the Isle of Man and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1884 as third wrangler, and in 1885 was awarded a first class honors in the mathematical tripos.
Trivia
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1907, vice-president in 1920, and served as President of the Royal Society from 1935 to 1940. He was elected an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1939 and an International Member of the American Philosophical Society.
Family Life
He is the son of Robert John Bragg and Mary née Wood. When he was seven years old, his mother died, and he was raised by his uncle, also named William Bragg. In 1889, he married Gwendoline Todd. They had three children, a daughter, Gwendolen and two sons, William Lawrence and Robert.
Associated With
He was friends with physicist Ernest Rutherford.
