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N0KFQ > TODAY 08.11.12 16:35l 54 Lines 2518 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 30971_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 8
Path: IZ3LSV<F1OYP<VE2PKT<XE1FH<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 121108/1431Z 30971@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Nov 8, 1895:
German scientist discovers X-rays
On this day in 1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (1845-1923)
becomes the first person to observe X-rays, a significant
scientific advancement that would ultimately benefit a variety of
fields, most of all medicine, by making the invisible visible.
Rontgen's discovery occurred accidentally in his Wurzburg,
Germany, lab, where he was testing whether cathode rays could
pass through glass when he noticed a glow coming from a nearby
chemically coated screen. He dubbed the rays that caused this
glow X-rays because of their unknown nature.
X-rays are electromagnetic energy waves that act similarly to
light rays, but at wavelengths approximately 1,000 times shorter
than those of light. Rontgen holed up in his lab and conducted a
series of experiments to better understand his discovery. He
learned that X-rays penetrate human flesh but not higher-density
substances such as bone or lead and that they can be
photographed.
Rontgen's discovery was labeled a medical miracle and X-rays soon
became an important diagnostic tool in medicine, allowing doctors
to see inside the human body for the first time without surgery.
In 1897, X-rays were first used on a military battlefield, during
the Balkan War, to find bullets and broken bones inside patients.
Scientists were quick to realize the benefits of X-rays, but
slower to comprehend the harmful effects of radiation. Initially,
it was believed X-rays passed through flesh as harmlessly as
light. However, within several years, researchers began to report
cases of burns and skin damage after exposure to X-rays, and in
1904, Thomas Edison's assistant, Clarence Dally, who had worked
extensively with X-rays, died of skin cancer. Dally's death
caused some scientists to begin taking the risks of radiation
more seriously, but they still weren't fully understood. During
the 1930s, 40s and 50s, in fact, many American shoe stores
featured shoe-fitting fluoroscopes that used to X-rays to enable
customers to see the bones in their feet; it wasn't until the
1950s that this practice was determined to be risky business.
Wilhelm Rontgen received numerous accolades for his work,
including the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901, yet he
remained modest and never tried to patent his discovery. Today,
X-ray technology is widely used in medicine, material analysis
and devices such as airport security scanners.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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