Discover
/
Article

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Glimmer of Light

NOV 01, 1995
A faint fluorescence spied out of the corner of a man’s eye in a darkened laboratory heralded the discovery, one hundred years ago, of ‘a new kind of rays’ that would revolutionize physics and medicine.
Howard H. Seliger

On Friday evening, 8 November 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a 50‐year‐old professor of physics and recently elected rector of the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany, was unusually late for dinner. And when he did arrive at the family living quarters above his laboratory in the Physical Institute, he did not speak, ate little and then left abruptly to return to the experiments that had so disturbed him that afternoon.

This article is only available in PDF format

References

  1. 1. W. C. Röntgen, Sitzungber. Phys.‐Med. Gesellschaft Würzburg, 132 (1895).

  2. 2. The biographical details in this article have been gleaned from the extensive literature on Röntgen including the following publications: O. Glasser, William Conrad Röntgen and the Early History of the Roentgen Rays, Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, Md. (1934).
    B. Dibner, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Discovery of X Rays, Franklin Watts, New York (1968).
    W. R. Nitske, The Life of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Discoverer of the X‐Ray, U. Ariz. P., Tucson (1971).
    R. L. Eisenberg, Radiology: An Illustrated History, Mosby Year Book, St. Louis (1992).

  3. 3. P. Lenard, Sitzungber. Berl. Akad. (12 January 1893);
    Wied. Ann. Phys. 51, 225 (1894).

More about the authors

Howard H. Seliger, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

Related content
/
Article
The ability to communicate a key message clearly and concisely to a nonspecialized audience is a critical skill to develop at all educational levels.
/
Article
With strong magnetic fields and intense lasers or pulsed electric currents, physicists can reconstruct the conditions inside astrophysical objects and create nuclear-fusion reactors.
/
Article
A crude device for quantification shows how diverse aspects of distantly related organisms reflect the interplay of the same underlying physical factors.
/
Article
Events held around the world have recognized the past, present, and future of quantum science and technology.
This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1995_11.jpeg

Volume 48, Number 11

Get PT in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.