during 1895 röntgen was investigating the external effects from the various types of vacuum tube equipment—apparatus from heinrich hertz,johann hittorf,william crookes,nikola tesla and philipp von lenard—when an electrical d**charge ** passed through them.in early november he was repeating an experiment with one of lenard's tubes in which a thin aluminium window had been added to permit the cathode rays to exit the tube but a cardboard covering was added to protect the aluminium from damage by the strong electrostatic field that ** necessary to produce the cathode rays.he knew the cardboard covering prevented light from escaping,yet röntgen observed that the inv**ible cathode rays caused a fluorescent effect on a small cardboard screen painted with barium platinocyanide when it was placed close to the aluminium window.it occurred to röntgen that the hittorf-crookes tube,which had a much thicker glass wall than the lenard tube,might also cause th** fluorescent effect.
in the late afternoon of 8 november 1895,röntgen determined to test h** idea.he carefully constructed a black cardboard covering similar to the one he had used on the lenard tube.he covered the hittorf-crookes tube with the cardboard and attached electrodes to a ruhmkorff coil to generate an electrostatic charge.before setting up the barium platinocyanide screen to test h** idea,röntgen darkened the room to test the opacity of h** cardboard cover.as he passed the ruhmkorff coil charge through the tube,he determined that the cover was light-tight and turned to prepare the next step of the experiment.it was at th** point that röntgen noticed a faint shimmering from a bench a meter away from the tube.to be sure,he tried several d**charges and saw the same shimmering each time.striking a match,he d**covered the shimmering had come from the location of the barium platinocyanide screen he had been intending to use next.
röntgen speculated that a new kind of ray might be responsible.8 november was a friday,so he took advantage of the weekend to repeat h** experiments and make h** first notes.in the following weeks he ate and slept in h** laboratory as he investigated many properties of the new rays he temporarily termed x-rays,using the mathematical designation for something unknown.although the new rays would eventually come to bear h** name in many languages where they became known as röntgen rays,he always preferred the term x-rays.nearly two weeks after h** d**covery,he took the very first picture using x-rays of h** wife's hand,anna bertha.when she saw her skeleton she exclaimed"i h**e seen my death!the idea that röntgen happened to notice the barium platinocyanide screen m**represents h** investigative powers;he had planned to use the screen in the next step of h** experiment and would therefore h**e made the d**covery a few moments later.[vague]
at one point while he was investigating the ability of various materials to stop the rays,röntgen brought a small piece of lead into position while a d**charge was occurring.röntgen thus saw the first radiographic image,h** own flickering ghostly skeleton on the barium platinocyanide screen.he later reported that it was at th** point that he determined to continue h** experiments in secrecy,because he feared for h** professional reputation if h** observations were in error.
röntgen's original **,"on a new kind of rays"(über eine neue art von strahlen),was publ**hed 50 days later on 28 december 1895.on 5 january 1896,an austrian news** reported röntgen's d**covery of a new type of radiation.röntgen was awarded an honorary doctor of medicine degree from the university of würzburg after h** d**covery.he publ**hed a total of three **s on x-rays between 1895 and 1897.today,röntgen ** considered the father of diagnostic radiology,the medical specialty which uses imaging to diagnose d**ease.展开