Page 9 - X-Rays: A Graphic History
P. 9

X-rays would have allowed Garfield’s doctors to   Röntgen had been studying cathode rays using
              safely locate the bullet inside him. This might have   Crookes tubes.
              saved his life. But it wasn’t until fifteen years after
              Garfield’s death that doctors discovered X-rays.
              This discovery began in 1895, with German
              physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen.



























              Crookes tubes were glass vacuums. A scientist could generate an electric charge within a Crookes tube.
              This charge produced streams of electrons. Scientists called these streams cathode rays.
                                     You can                                   Yes.
                                    see the glow                            We’ve found
                                  that the cathode                        the rays can only
                                     rays are                             travel a matter of
                                     causing.                               centimeters.


                                      Must the                                      cathode rays
                                      screen be
                                      so close?                        electrons




















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