As professor of maths/ physics, William Bragg puts science at young Adelaide University on firm footing from 1886

The contribution of William Henry Bragg and his son (William) Lawrence Bragg to science is acknowledged at the modern University of Adelaide.. 

William Henry Bragg built a solid foundation of academic science in South Australia during his 23 years at Adelaide University from 1886.

Arriving with first class honours from Cambridge University, Bragg was appointed, aged 23, the Elder professor of mathematics and experimental physics at Adelaide University.

Bragg found that, of the 100 full-course students at the young Adelaide university, only a few were at the science school. It was so poorly equipped that Bragg apprenticed himself to a company that taught him how to make instruments.

Bragg built up science student numbers as an able and popular lecturer. He encouraged a student union to be formed. Science teachers were able to attend his lectures free of charge. Bragg gave a public demonstration of Marconi's wireless in 1897.

Bragg came to Adelaide as a skilled mathematician a limited knowledge of physics, most of which was in the form of applied mathematics he had learnt at Trinity College, Cambridge.

During his time in Adelaide, Bragg's interest in physics developed, particularly in the field of electromagnetism. He recruited academic and technical talent to further the university's depth in this field.

Bragg's son, (William) Lawrence Bragg, also attended Adelaide University before going on to Cambridge. He would jointly win the Nobel Prize for physics with his father in 1915.