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X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHY
X-ray photography was one of the most important dis-
coveries of the 19th century. Developed in November
1895 by German scientist Willhelm Conrad Röntgen
(1845–1923), the x-ray thus straddles the cusp between
two centuries. The phenomenon captured the public’s
imagination to an extent not experienced; its fascination
was not to be eclipsed until the hydrogen bomb in 1945.
The aesthetic and theoretical ramifi cations of x-rays also
proved fertile ground for artists seeking new ways to
picture inner realities. Röntgen won the fi rst Nobel Prize
in Physics in 1901 for his breakthrough, yet declined to
seek a patent and remained modest about his remarkable
discovery for the rest of his life. Interestingly, Röntgen
disliked being photographed, therefore few images of
him exist.
Röntgen, like many other researchers of his time,
was interested in the nature of cathode rays. To ac-
complish his light experiments, he used vacuum glass
tubes, commonly known as Crookes tubes after William
Crookes, a British scientist who perfected them in the
1870s. Working in the Physical Institute laboratories of
the University of Wurzburg, Röntgen studied emissions
produced from an electrical current passed between the
cathode (negative) and anode (positive) terminals. The
cathode rays normally caused the walls of tube or other
internal objects to glow, but did not seem to be able to
penetrate the glass. Röntgen was astonished when his
cardboard shrouded tube caused a barium platinocyanide
screen across the room to fl uoresce. Placing various
objects between the tube and screen, he saw the bones
of his hand through his fl esh, which he subsequently
captured on a photographic plate. What followed was
seven straight weeks of intense experimentation. He
remarked to a friend, “I have discovered something
interesting, but I do not know whether or not my ob-
servations are correct.”
On December 28 1895, Röntgen gave a preliminary
report to the Physical-Medical society of Wurzburg,
and by New Year’s Day he sent copies of his report to
colleagues across Europe. Newspapers and magazine
quickly picked up the story and by January, the whole
world was caught up in x-ray fever. Other non-existent
rays were posited—including N-rays, black rays, and
Becquerel Rays (later found to be the alpha, beta, and
gamma rays produced by radioactive materials). Every
imaginable substance, including animals and objects,
were exposed. Eager for news of each new photographed
organ, cartoonists and poets lauded the humorous new
possibilities of seeing people’s thoughts and peering
through underwear. By 1896, over 60 articles had
been featured in the popular press as well as the fi rst
angiography, cinematic x-ray, and military radiology
performed.
The fi rst generally-accepted x-ray photograph is
that of Mrs. Röntgen’s ringed hand from December 22,- (After learning of the discovery, A.W. Goodspeed
and William Jennings recreated one they had made by
accident in 1890.) X-rays were seen as extension of
the photographer’s craft and were included in many
manuals and journals. After Thomas Edison’s invention
of the fl uoroscope in 1896 (a kind of hooded camera
fi tted with a screen), many x-rays were performed as
demonstrations. People lined up at department stores,
high schools, and other public venues to get “bone
portraits.” Dubbed “shadow photographs,” X-rays soon
after needed no camera, a capacity shared with some of
the earliest forms of photography, and no fi lm. Still, the
evidentiary nature of a photograph proved irresistible,
especially to photographers, scientists, and the press.
Eadweard Muybridge made stop action photographs
and fi lms of frog’s legs in motion in 1896. Edison even
claimed that the rays would eventually show the activity
of the human brain.