The hand of an X Ray Technician at the Royal London Hospital, 1900s

The hand of an X Ray Technician at the Royal London Hospital, 1900s

X-rays were discovered by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, which are one of the most important advancements in medical history. 

Röntgen was experimenting if cathode light could go through glass, when he discovered a glow coming from a screen nearby, which he called X-rays due to the lights unknown origin. 

X-rays are electromagnetic energy waves that are light, but their length waves are 1,000 times shorter. Röntgen discovered they were bright enough to go through flesh, but not bones. It was immediately cited as a medical miracle .

While it was quickly discovered how to be useful, the radiation poisoning was not realised until those operating X-ray equipment became sick with conditions such as cancer.

X-rays were first use in battle during the Balkan War to find bullets and broken bones. 

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen won the first Nobel prize for physics in 1901 and never patented X-rays for money and remained humble after his achievement.

This person's hand was badly damaged, as X Ray machines were tested before use by taking an X Ray of the technicians hand. This exposed the tenchinican to a huge amount of radiation, which was not understood at the time. 

Exposed to certain levels of radiation can be damaging to the human body and can be lethal if the level is high enough.

Photographer: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

Source: history.com

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