Lawrence Bragg

Sir
Lawrence Bragg
CH OBE MC FRS
Sir Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS
	Bragg in 1915
Born	William Lawrence Bragg; 31 March 1890; Adelaide, Colony of South Australia
Died	1 July 1971 (aged 81); Waldringfield, Suffolk, England
Education	Queen's College, North Adelaide; St Peter's College, Adelaide;
Alma mater	University of Adelaide; Trinity College, Cambridge;
Known for	Bragg's law (1913)
Spouse	Alice Hopkinson (m. 1921)
Children	4, including Stephen
Father	William Henry Bragg
Relatives	Charles Todd (grandfather)
Awards	Matteucci Medal (1915); Nobel Prize in Physics (1915); Hughes Medal (1931); Royal Medal (1946); Copley Medal (1966);
Honours	Knight Bachelor (1941); Order of the Companions of Honour (1967);
	Scientific career
Fields	Physics; X-ray crystallography;
Institutions	Victoria University of Manchester; National Physical Laboratory; Cavendish Laboratory; Royal Institution;
Academic advisors	J. J. Thomson; William Henry Bragg;
Doctoral students	Evan James Williams (1926); Max Perutz (1940); Alex Stokes (1943);
Other notable students	John Crank
Preceded by
See directorships and professorships
7th Director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory
	In office; 1954–1966
Preceded by	Edward Andrade
Succeeded by	Richard Catlow
9th Fullerian Professor of Chemistry
	In office; 1953–1966
Preceded by	Edward Andrade
Succeeded by	George Porter
5th Cavendish Professor of Physics
	In office; 1938–1953
Preceded by	Ernest Rutherford
Succeeded by	Nevill Francis Mott
3rd Director of the National Physical Laboratory
	In office; 1937–1938
Preceded by	Frank Edward Smith (acting)
Succeeded by	Charles Galton Darwin
4th Langworthy Professor
	In office; 1919–1937
Preceded by	Ernest Rutherford
Succeeded by	Patrick Blackett

Sir William Lawrence Bragg (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics with his father William Henry Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays", an important step in the development of X-ray crystallography.

As of 2024, he is the youngest ever Nobel laureate in physics, or in any science category, having received the award at the age of 25. Bragg was the director of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, when James D. Watson and Francis Crick reported the discovery of the structure of DNA in February 1953.