Wilhelm Conrad R?ntgen (German: Wilhelm R?ntgen, March 27, 1845 - February 10, 1923), German physicist.

X-rays were discovered on November 8, 1895, paving the way for the creation of medical imaging technology. In 1901, he was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics. This discovery not only had a major impact on medical diagnosis, but also directly influenced many major scientific discoveries in the 20th century.

For example, Antoine Henry Becquerel won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics together with the Curies for their discovery of natural radioactivity. To this day, in order to commemorate Roentgen's achievements, X-rays are called Roentgen rays in many countries. In addition, the 111th chemical element Rg is also named after Roentgen.

Extended information:

1. Family background

Wilhelm Conrad R?ntgen was born on March 27, 1845 in Lenep, Rhineland, Germany. (Lennep). His father is a small business owner of a woolen mill, and his mother is a very kind-hearted Dutchman. He is an only child.

2. Main contributions

Roentgen conducted experimental research in many fields of physics throughout his life, such as the magnetic effect of dielectrics moving in charged capacitors, the specific heat capacity of gases, He has made certain contributions to the research on the thermal conductivity of crystals, pyroelectric and piezoelectric phenomena, the rotation of the polarization plane of light in gases, the relationship between light and electricity, the elasticity of materials, capillary phenomena, etc. Because he discovered X Rays have received so much honor that these contributions go mostly unnoticed.

On November 8, 1895, while conducting experiments on cathode rays, Roentgen noticed for the first time that a small screen of barium cyanogen platinite placed near the ray tube emitted a faint light. After several days of sleepless research, he determined that the glow of the fluorescent screen was due to some kind of ray emitted from the ray tube. Because little was known about the nature and properties of this ray at that time, he called it X-ray, meaning unknown.

On December 28 of the same year, the "Journal of the Würzburg Physical Medicine Society" published his first report on this discovery. He continued to study this ray and published new papers in 1896 and 1897.

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