The International Day of Radiology will take place on 8th November for the fifteenth time, with the aim of building greater awareness of the value that radiology contributes to safe patient care and improving public understanding of the vital role radiologists and radiographers play in the healthcare continuum.
The day commemorates the discovery of X-rays by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen on November 8, 1895. Röntgen's discovery was accidental. He was investigating the behaviour of cathode rays—streams of electrons generated inside a vacuum tube known as a Hittorf-Crookes tube. To focus on the rays themselves, he wrapped the glass tube tightly in heavy black cardboard to block all visible light.
After darkening the room and applying a high-voltage electrical current to the tube, he noticed a faint, green shimmering light a few feet away. The glow was coming from a paper screen coated with barium platinocyanide. Because the tube was completely shielded by thick black paper, Röntgen realized that some unknown, invisible ray was passing right through the cardboard and causing the screen to fluoresce. Because its nature was a complete mystery, he temporarily dubbed it the "X-ray" (using the mathematical symbol 'X' for an unknown variable).
Within months, physicians worldwide were building their own unpatented X-ray setups to locate bullets, diagnose bone fractures, and track disease.In 1901, Röntgen was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for his monumental discovery.
Röntgen firmly believed that his discoveries belonged to humanity. He refused to patent the technology, declined a title of nobility, and famously donated his Nobel Prize prize money to his employer, the University of Wurzburg.
The students I teach are fascinated by bones and X-rays and I never seem to have enough books to satisfy their needs. We do have:
and we need to get
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