Roentgen's X-Rays, A Pioneering Discovery for the Development of 20th Century Physics

摘要

Rontgen's 1895 discovery was the culmination of centuries of observation and experimentation in electricity and magnetism. The magnetic properties of amber (a Baltic fossil resin) were discovered by the Greeks 2,500 years ago. Sailors in the Mediterranean for thousands of years had used Lodestone, a naturally occurring magnetic ore as a primitive form of compass. The observation that friction caused amber to attract light objects and the ability of Lodestone to attract ore led to the first scientific study of this phenomenon. In addition to electricity and magnetism, the third major physical principle involved in X-ray production is the vacuum and the evacuated glass tube. This occurred in the 19th century with the development of the Crookes tube. It was Rontgen's ability to both synthesise the scientific work that had gone before him and make the forward leap to postulate the existent of a new form of ray that was the hallmark of his genius. Nevertheless, Roentgen's discovery in itself was simply part of an evolving spectrum of scientific discovery which subsequently resulted in the discovery of radioactivity, the development of nuclear energy and (regrettably) nuclear weaponry.