04/04/2023
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Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923) was a German physicist who is best known for his discovery of X-rays in 1895. He was born in Lennep (now part of Remscheid) in the Rhine Province of Germany. Röntgen studied mechanical engineering at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and then went on to study at the University of Zurich.
Röntgen worked at various universities throughout his career, including the University of Strasbourg, the University of Hohenheim, and the University of Würzburg. It was while working at the University of Würzburg that Röntgen made his most famous discovery.
In 1895, Röntgen was experimenting with cathode rays, which are streams of electrons emitted from a negatively charged electrode in a vacuum tube. He noticed that when he passed the rays through a thin sheet of metal, a fluorescent screen placed nearby lit up. He realized that some unknown radiation was being emitted from the cathode ray tube.
After several weeks of experiments, Röntgen discovered that the radiation was able to pe*****te solid objects, including human tissue. He called this radiation "X-rays," and his discovery revolutionized medicine and physics. X-rays are now used for a wide range of purposes, including medical imaging, scientific research, and industrial applications.
For his discovery of X-rays, Röntgen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. He continued to work in physics until his death in 1923, at the age of 77.
