Abstract
In the autumn of 1895, Prof. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen of Würzburg, Bavaria, discovered the rays which he called the ‘unknown’ or ‘X’ rays, but which are now frequently known by his name. In this book, Dr. Otto Glasser gives much miscellaneous information about his work, and Miss Margret Boveri, who was a friend of the great physicist, gives many interesting personal details of his life. An excellent photograph, signed ‘Dr. W. C. Röntgen’ forms the frontispiece, and there are many photographs of historic letters, documents, and skiagrams. A picture is given of the modest but attractive laboratory in the Physical Institute in Würzburg where Röntgen rays were first discovered. An excellent skiagram of a hand taken by Röntgen himself in Hamburg on Jan. 17, 1896, is shown. The development of Röntgen photography was extraordinarily rapid. Other skiagrams, taken in January 1896, are shown, including one by Campbell Swinton. In the appendix a list of 1044 communications to the press on the subject, published in 1896, is tabulated. Of these, twenty were written by Campbell Swinton, eight being published in NATURE. Lodge published fifteen and S. P. Thompson seven, several of which were in NATURE. A picture published in Punch on Jan. 25, 1896, shows that the new photography has its humorous side. A long list, but far from complete, of the well-deserved honours received by this great physicist in his lifetime is given. It includes the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society in 1896 and the Nobel Prize in 1901. His letters show that in his private life he was a modest and lovable man. The book would be improved if it had an index.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen und die Geschichte der Röntgenstrahlen.
Von Dr. Otto Glasser. Mit einem Beitrag: Persönliches über W. C. Röntgen, von Margret Boveri. (Röntgenkunde in Einzeldarstellungen, herausgegeben von H. H. Berg und H. Frik, Band 3.) Pp. xi + 337. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1931.) 29.60 gold marks.
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Physics. Nature 128, 629 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128629a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128629a0