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X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHY
As x-rays are radiation, they can both diagnose and
cure. Enthusiasts, not having a precedent, exposed them-
selves regularly to test strength and perform demonstra-
tions. Reddening of the nose and hands of practitioners
was common. The early decades of the 20th century
saw the death of many early pioneers due to numerous
amputations and burns resulting from overexposure. It
was not until the death of Edison’s assistant in 1904
that the spotless record of the rays began to wear thin.
The novelty and pure aesthetics of the rays gave way
to medical applications—both legitimate and illegiti-
mate. Medical schools added x-rays to their curricula;
likewise, correspondence courses offered programs
for photographers and electricians to gain training in
“Röntgenology.” “Do-it-yourself” kits were even sold
in popular magazines.
Röntgen initially described x-rays as “longitudinal
vibrations in the ether”. The ether was a commonly
held scientifi c hypothesis that a mysterious substance
occupied the air and was the media through which waves
and a whole host of other as yet inexplicable phenom-
ena moved. At the turn of the last century, science and
occultism occupied a much closer range than they do
today and x-rays were thought by many to give credence
to extra-sensory perception and psychic ability. If such
non-perceptible spectacles could be captured on a pho-
tographic plate, it was argued, so too could thoughts,
auras, ghosts, and even the human soul. Philosophically,
the discovery of x-rays caused a scientifi c sea change.
No longer did the senses seem an adequate platform
for analysis; scientifi c positivism was at a standstill.
Furthermore, these rays could also kill as well as cure,
presenting a medical and moral conundrum.
It was not until the 20th century that x-rays were
confi rmed to be a part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Röntgen had covered his tube to keep the fl uorescent
effects contained; yet he found that the new rays could
not be refl ected, polarized, or refracted. It was later
proved that x-rays have shorter wavelengths than visible
light (around one billionth of a meter) and are related to
radioactivity (discovered in 1896 and later studied by
Marie and Pierre Curie). A trained glass blower, C.H.F.
Muller was the fi rst to construct commercially viable
x-ray tubes and was later granted a patent in 1899.
His fi rm expanded until another company took over in
1927, eventually setting the foundation for the new and
improved x-ray apparatus we know today.
Leslie K. Brown
See also: Edison, Thomas Alva; Scientifi c
Photography; and Photogrammetry.Further Reading
Henderson, Linda Dalrymple, “X Rays and the Quest for Invisible
Reality in the Art of Kupka, Duchamp, and the Cubists,” Art
Journal 47 (Winter 1988), 323–40.
Nitske, W. Robert, The Life of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Discoverer
of the X Ray (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1971).
Radiology Centennial, http://www.xray.hmc.psu.edu/rci/ss1/ss1_
6.html, 1993.
Thomas, Ann with essay by Marta Braun, Beauty of Another
Order: Photography in Science, New Haven: Yale University
Press in association with the National Gallery of Canada,
Ottawa, 1997.