An Early X-ray Tube

Abstract

The ABC of the X Rays (1) by William Henry Meadowcroft (1853-1937). Meadowcroft was Thomas Edison’s secretary and biographer (Edison was an early x-ray investigator). The text is an elementary exposition of x-rays, x-ray tubes, and suitable power sources. Practical Radiography (2) by Henry Snowden Ward (18651911) and William A. Anthony. Ward was editor of a British photography journal, The Photogram, which featured a section on radiography. Not surprisingly, his book deals with equipment and techniques for taking radiographic exposures. Roentgen Rays and Phenomena of the Anode and Cathode (3) by Edward Pruden Thompson. Thompson was an electrical engineer and patent attorney in New York. His text is a compendium of approximately 200 synopses of seminal papers exploring electrical and radiant phenomena (including publications of Faraday, J.J. Thomson, Crookes, Tesla, Hertz, Lenard, Edison, and Roentgen). The X Ray or Photography of the Invisible and Its Value in Surgery (4) by William James Morton (1845-1920) and Edwin W. Hammer. The only text authored by a physician, it contained sections on medical, surgical, and dental radiography (with a brief speculative chapter on the “curative action of the X ray”). Even the use of radiographs as legal evidence was addressed. It is the only one of the volumes that mentioned radiation toxicity, but it made no recommendations regarding radiation safety.