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Charles Glover Barkla FRS was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays.
Barkla was born in Widnes, England to John Martin Barkla, a secretary for the Atlas Chemical Company and Sarah Glover, daughter of a watchmaker. Barkla studied at the Liverpool Institute and proceeded by Liverpool University with a County Council Scholarship and a Bibby Scholarship. Barkla initially studied Mathematics but later specialised in Physics under Sir Oliver Lodge. During the absence of Oliver Lodge due to ill health, Barkla would replace him in lectures.
In 1899, Barkla was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, with an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, to work in the Cavendish Laboratory under the physicist J. J. Thomson. During his first two years at Cambridge, Barkla would, under the directions of J.J. Thomson, study the velocity of electromagnetic waves along wires of different widths and materials.
After a year and a half at Trinity College, Cambridge, his love of music led him to transfer to King's College, Cambridge in order to sing in their chapel choir. Barkla's baritone voice was of remarkable beauty and his solo performances would always be fully attended. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1903, and then his Master of Arts degree in 1907.
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