1700+-+1900+-+18th+and+19th+Centuries+-+X-rays


 * **X-rays (1700-1900) **
 * **X-rays (1700-1900) **

**Overview:**  X-rays are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum with a very high energy and short wave length. Their high energy means that x-rays can pass through skin and muscle. They are absorbed by dense tissues like cartilage and bone. This produces an image on photographic film which can show damage hidden to the naked eye.  X-rays can be used to treat disorders like cancers. Low energy x-rays are now widely used to see inside bags and luggage in airports and other areas where security is important. A modern development of the x-ray is found in CT scanners. 

 Wilhelm R öntgen was studying cathode rays produced by a recently invented piece of equipment called a Crook's tube when he noticed that a florescent screen across the room started to glow. He put his hand near the screen and discovered that he could see a dark pattern of the bones as his hand passed over the screen. Still unsure of what was happened, Röntgen took out photographic film for a permanent record of this discovery. Weeks later, Wilhelm asked his wife to come into his laboratory and took a picture of her hand and her wedding ring was visible.     1901 - W.C. Rontgen, in physics, for the discovery of x-rays. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1914 - M. Von Laue, in physics, for the discovery of x-rays by crystals 1915 - W.H. Bragg and W.L. Bragg, in physics, for the determination of crystal structures using x-rays 1917 - -C.G.Barkla, in physics, for the discovery of characteristic x-rays radiation of the elements 1924 - M. Siegbahn, in physics, for discoveries in the field of x-rays spectroscopy 1927 - A. H. Compton, in physics, for revealing the particle nature of x-rays in scattering experiments on electrons 1936 - P. Debye, in chemistry, for determining molecular structures by x-ray diffraction in gases 1962 - M. F. Perutz and J. C. Kendrew, in chemistry for determining the structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin 1962 - F. Crick, J. Watson and M. Wilkins, in medicine, for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material 1964 - D. Crowfoot Hodgkin, in chemistry, for the determination of the structure of penicillin and other important biochemical substances 1976 - W. N. Lipscomb, in chemistry, for the determination of boranes 1979 - A. M. Cormack and G. N. Hounsfield, in medicine, for the development of computerized tomography 1981 - M. Siegbahn, in physics, for developing high resolution electron spectroscopy 1985 - H. A. Hauptman and J. Karle, in chemistry, for the development of direct methods for X-ray crystallographic structure determination 1988 - J. Deisenhofer, R. Huber and H. Michel, in chemistry, for the determination of protein structures crucial to photosynthesis <span style="color: #e10e0e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">**Facts About X-rays:**
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">History:  **
 * <span style="color: #e10e0e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Timeline in X-ray History: **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//A X-ray machine in use.//
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Röntgen called them X rays because their nature was at first unknown; they are sometimes also called Roentgen, or Röntgen, rays.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Most applications of X rays are based on their ability to pass through matter.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Photographs made with X rays are known as radiographs or skiagraphs.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The wavelength range for X rays is from about 10−8 m to about 10−11 m, or from less than a billionth of an inch to less than a trillionth of an inch; the corresponding frequency range is from about 3 × 1016 Hz to about 3 × 1019 Hz (1 Hz = 1 cps).
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Following WWI and WWII, the X-Ray machine was thoroughly incorporated into American society.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Many problems, including burning, infection, swelling, cancer, and eventual amputation forced the medical and scientific community to reinvestigate the mechanics and workings of the X-Ray process
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">Doctors and technicians were discovering the curative effects of X-Rays upon people with cancer, tuberculosis, and skin disorders.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">By the early 1900s, reports of X-Rays damaging skin and killing organic life were widespread.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">In the early 1980s, medical X-rays made up about 11 percent of all the radiation exposure to the U.S. population.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//A portable X-ray machine circa 1920//

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//Wilhelm Röntgen// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//X-ray of the neck//

[] [] [] [] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/x-rays/__]
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #e10e0e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Sources: **