Rontgen's rays

Abstract

Two anniversaries make 1995 a special year. It is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, and 100 years ago, the esteemed German physicist discovered X-rays, ushering in a new era for medicine and the natural sciences. Rontgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901 for his discovery, which laid the foundation for a multitude of applications. Amazingly, he never patented his work because he wanted to make his discoveries available to all. On 8 November 1895, while working in his laboratory in Wurzburg, Rontgen experimented with a Hittorf gas discharge tube that he had-covered with a thin sheet of black cardboard. In a completely darkened room, he observed how a prepared paper screen located nearby became fluorescent every time there was a discharge from the tube. After six weeks of intensive investigation, he was ready to break the news of his discovery to the world. Rontgen's first publication on 28 December 1895 was called 'On a New Kind of Rays'. He published only two further articles on X-rays: in March 1896 and in May 1897. In these few treatises, he described many of the most significant characteristics of X-rays. Rontgen had not only discovered radiation, but had researched it so thoroughly and intensively that no new results were found for the next 10 years. He alone established the scientific basis for the entire field of X-ray technology, as it was known at that time.