Abstract
Countless lives have been redeemed by the accidental revelation of the wonder that is X rays. On November 8, 1895, in the same week that the Lumière brothers introduced cinematography in France, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen stumbled across X rays while experimenting with cathode rays at the University of Würzburg in Bavaria—and was rightly awarded the Nobel prize in 1901 for the achievement. During the course of his analysis, Röntgen had observed a bright fluorescence, which he first thought might be due to the cathode (beta) rays, but later realized that the effect was produced by something as yet beyond his ken and coined the term “X rays” to describe his discovery. He established the potency of X rays after positioning a photographic plate in front of them; the rays left an impression. But his real genius came when he shrewdly recognized the medical importance of the beams once his wife Bertha Röntgen had tried placing her hand between rays and plate, depositing an X-ray image of the bones in her hand on the plate’s emulsion.
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Notes
As Arthur C. Clarke commented… Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future ( London: Victor Gollancz, 1962 ).
The discovery of X rays, Clarke… Clarke, Profiles of the Future. 87 In the week commencing June 12, 1995… Pearce Wright,“The All-Seeing Revolution,” The Times (12 June 1995), 22–23.
The Times, extolling the technology… Wright, “The All-Seeing Revolution.”
On January 31, 1996… Daniel Goleman, “Brain Scan Detects Alzheimer’s Clues,” New York Times Service (31 January 1996). 91 One of the most amazing, novel, diagnostic… “The Invisible Man,” The Economist (28 October 1995), 152–153.
This was more than adequately demonstrated… Interview with Richard Kitney, Imperial College, London (29 January 1996 ).
Kevin McGovern… Kevin McGovern, “Application of Virtual Reality to Surgery,” British Medical Journal (23 April 1994), 1054–1055.
Since the summer of 1994… “Adam’s Family Values,” The Economist (5 March 1994), 110–111.
A second database, the Visible Embryo Project… “Adam’s Family Values.”
When presiding over the 1995… Ian Isherwood, as cited in Wright, “The All-Seeing Revolution,” 22.
That sentiment was echoed… World Health (Geneva: World Health Organization, May June 1995).
There are monetary advantages… “Teleradiology: The Future Is Now,” In Vivo (January 1996), 11–14.
In September 1994, the National… Leslie A. Sandberg, “Reflections on Building a Transnational Telemedicine Demonstration Network,” Vision Comes Reality: The Journal of the National Information Infrastructure Testbed (1994), 1–7.
Wady Gedroyc, a consultant… Interview with Wady Gedroyc, St. Mary’s National Health Service Trust, London (22 January 1996 ).
In part, the huge technical difficulties are… Alexandra Wyke, “Peering into 2010: A Survey of the Future of Medicine,” The Economist (19 March 1994), 1–20.
For the surgeon to view the MRI’s… Wyke, “Peering into 2010.”
By the end of 1997, some fifteen machines… Interview with Wady Gedroyc.
In August 1994, Ferenc Jolesz… “The Virtual Heart of the Medico-Industrial Complex,” The Economist (22 October 1994 ), 135–136.
As the delighted Dr. Jolesz pointed out… Ferenc Jolesz, as cited on Business 2000 ( London: Clark Television, 1994 ).
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© 1997 Alexandra Wyke
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Wyke, A. (1997). Beyond X Rays. In: 21st-Century Miracle Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3466-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3466-6_5
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