Rontgen, Wilhelm Conrad

Rontgen, Wilhelm Conrad (1845-1923), German scientist.

Professor Wilhelm Rontgen of Wurzburg University discovered a new kind of ray in 1895 and called it X-ray.

These rays could not be seen by the human eye. They passed through paper and wood and other materials but not through certain metals.

Doctors soon saw the great value of Rontgen's discovery to them. Today X-rays are widely used to find out what is wrong with sick or injured people. For example, taking small X-ray photographs of people's chests has helped to stamp out tuberculosis. This deadly disease used to be quite common even up to the latter half of the 20th century.

See The life of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, discoverer of the X ray ~ W. Robert Nitske