The Accidental Discovery of X-Rays
X-rays are among the most common diagnostic tools for a variety of health concerns; however, their discovery, like many scientific finds, came as the result of several incidences of serendipity, beginning as far back as 1896 with the work of Henry Becquerel.
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Early History
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Although formally discovered in 1789, uranium's isolation as a pure element only came about through the work of Eugene-Melchior Peligot in 1841. One of the earliest determinations of its properties came about in 1896 when French scientist Antoine Henri Becquerel exposed a uranium-bearing crystal to sunlight before placing it on a photographic plate to see if it would produce its image on the plate as he had predicted. When this occurred, he believed it was only because the crystal had absorbed the energy of the sun and released it in the form of X-rays, with the term "X" referring to the unknown. After leaving this crystal in a closed drawer with a photographic plate for several days and getting a similar image, he realized the sun had nothing to do with it. He rightly attributed this to a property of the crystal.
The Curies
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According to "The Discovery of Radioactivity: The Dawn of the Nuclear Age," Becquerel had noted that "uranium emanations could turn air into a conductor of electricity." While Becquerel did not follow up on his findings, the husband-wife team of Pierre and Marie Curie did. In fact, the Curies, working out of Becquerel's lab, made the study of radioactivity their lives' work. By using instruments developed by Pierre Curie, the amount of electricity was quantified. It was through these experiments that the Curies discovered polonium as well as learning more about the nature of radioactivity.
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Wilhelm Roentgen
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Building on these early discoveries, Wilhelm Roentgen, a professor of physics in Bavaria, began to work with early cathode ray tubes, some of which were very similar to today's fluorescent light bulbs. When he removed the air from these tubes, filled them with special gases, then passed an electric current through them, he found that the tubes began to glow. Through additional experiments, he found that this "glow" could pass through solid objects, leaving an image of them behind. Soon he found that they could pass through human tissue, leaving the bones visible. In 1895, he produced a film of the bones of his wife's hand.
Early Uses
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X-rays are commonly used for diagnosis. Word of Roentgen's discovery spread rapidly, and by the following year, X-rays were being used in the United States to analyze both fractures and gun shot wounds. By the early 1900s, X-rays were also found to have a role in the treatment of some cancers, and both the Boer War and World War I did much to show their diagnostic abilities.
Applications
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X-rays have archaeological uses as well as medical. X-rays are much more than just medical diagnostic tools; they are also an important tool in the fields of anthropology and archaeology, where they are used to examine burial sites and some artifacts. Industry also looks to X-rays to determine the presence of metal stress and fatigue. X-rays are one of primary tools for searching people, luggage and packages to ensure safety.
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- Photo Credit x-ray image by Claudio Calcagno from Fotolia.com x-ray diagnosis image by Keith Frith from Fotolia.com figure image by musk from Fotolia.com
