Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen












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Wilhelm Roentgen Biography

Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen (Röntgen) was born in lower Germany on March 27, 1845. His mother, Charlotte Constanze Frowein and his father were manufactures and merchants in cloth. When he was three, the family moved to the Netherlands where Roentgen lived and spent his early years. He went to Martinus Herman van Doorn boarding school, where he didn’t excel or stand out as the smartest student, but this school gave him his love for nature and physics. After graduating from boarding school, Roentgen attended a technical school in Utrecht in 1862. He was expelled from this school soon after for being wrongfully convicted of drawing a caricature of a teacher. After this unfortunate event, Roentgen in 1865 enrolled in the University of Utrecht to study physics and graduated in 1869 with a Ph.D. This gave him the opportunity to work in Germany as the director of the Physical Institute of the University of Würzburg. Wilhelm first wrote and published work about specific heats and gases in 1870, which led him into researching cathode rays and electromagnetic influenced on polarized light. In the midst of all his groundbreaking research, Roentgen was married in 1872 to Anna Bertha Ludwig. Anna and Wilhelm had no children except Anna’s niece that they adopted. Soon after his marriage in 1985, Roentgen’s greatest discovery came when he discovered X-rays. He was highly praised for this discovery and was offered a job at the University of Munich in 1900 where he stayed for the rest of his life even with many other great offers thrown his way. He was awarded so many honors and prizes for this magnificent discovery. Although in 1901 Roentgen received one of the greatest honors a physicist can get; he was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics. He stayed humble throughout the process and continued his love for nature. Throughout his life Roentgen was a great mountaineer that he even purchased a summer home in the Alps to stay. Wilhelm’s wonderful life and career came to an end in Munich on Feburary 10, 1923 when he died from intestinal complications.

"I didn't think; I experimented” -Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen, His most famous quote which summed up how he worked and lived.

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Wilhelm Roentgen Major Discovery

Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen made one of the most important medical advances in his history as a physicist. On November 8, 1895, Wilhelm was experimenting with new types of vacuum tubes when by accident he noticed that electricity went through the vacuum that was capable of penetrating dense bodies that cannot be seen with visible light rays. He brought this vacuum tube into a dark room and tried this experiment once more. These rays continued to strike a fluorescent screen ad create a glow. Roentgen astounded by these rays named them X rays because of their unknown nature. He tested these rays on many surfaces and found that X rays didn’t penetrate lead or human bones. Roentgen’s then tried to capture this image of on a photographic plate, which he did successfully, and his first test subject was his wife. She put her hand on the photographic plate while he shined the rays on it. The plate displayed a blurry picture of Anna Bertha’s hand and her wedding ring. Roentgen wrote a paper to the Würzburg Physical Society on December 28, 1895 titled “On a New Kind of Rays. By January this new discovery was heard around the world and it was met with worldwide excitement. Journalists and newspapers all over the globe wrote about his new discovery for even though this was confusing to the hoi polloi, the picture of Bertha’s hand was something they could all relate to.

Wilhelm Roentgen Influence in Early 20th Century

The discovery and use of X rays hit the ground running. People of the early 20th century immediately put Roentgen’s new discovery to use. Surgeons and physicians began using a diagnostic instrument that allowed them to look inside the bodies of their patients. X rays were first used to examine broken bones and set them properly in the casts. Not all people were excited about X rays at the time. Women believed that the technology of X rays could fit into glasses and that X rays ruined the modesty of women. No one at the time knew the real harms of X rays though. X rays can cause chronic pain, which sometimes leads to cancer. Many brilliant minds in this time died of leukemia and other types of cancer. Only from lots of exposure of cancer does X rays cause harm. Immediately after this discovery doctors used X rays with everything to detect cancer. X rays saved many more lives than it harmed. Tuberculosis was a widespread disease and chest X rays could identify the TB and treat it during the early symptoms. This discovery helped around 90 percent of patients during the early 20th century. X rays had a great influence medically at the time and it soon spread out of Europe and to the entire world.

Wilhelm Roentgen Influence on Today

X rays led to the medical advances of so many theories such as radiation. Today most orthopedic doctors use X rays to check broken bones and internal organs as they did back in the days of Roentgen. Orthopedists aren’t the only doctors to use X rays; dentists use X rays for dental imaging. They can find cavities in someone’s mouth with just an X ray picture and even a tumor or bone abnormality are found using X rays. Doctors now know the consequences of too much X ray exposure; so lead vests are now used to protect the patient. The risk of X rays is close to zero percent now. Airports also use X rays everyday for safety to check luggage for dangerous weapons or drugs. X rays are used around the world to help people everyday and they are a great influence on medical advances. Roentgen could have never known what his accidental experiment and discovery in 1895 could have led to thousands of saved lives.

“The scientist must consider the possibility, which usually amounts to a certainty, that his work will be superseded by others within a relatively short time, that his methods will be improved upon and that the new results will be more accurate and the memory of his life and work will gradually disappear.” -Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen

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