100 Years of X-Rays — Industrial Use of NDT and the Role of ASNT

摘要

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen made his momentous discovery of X-rays on Friday, November 8,1895 in his laboratory at the University of Wurzburg in Germany. The importance of this new kind of ray was recognized immediately. The "see-through" property of X-rays created a sensation, not only in the scientific community but also in the popular press. By early January 1896, newspapers around the world carried news of these new rays and their ability to pass through flesh and other materials. The newspaper accounts correctly predicted the tremendous impact that X-rays were to have on medical diagnosis. Although Roentgen and other early X-ray workers showed X-ray images of "things" (Roentgen took X-ray images of his shotgun, a compass, weights in a box, etc.) it was a long time before non-medical uses of X-rays became important.