Wilhelm+C+Röntgen

Wilhelm Roentgen is known for his achievements to to the field of radiation when he discovered the X-ray. in 1895 he was studying what happened when an electric current was run through a field of low pressure gases. This work had been done by a few other scientists before him and was known to produce cathode rays. He was experimenting with cathode rays when he found that a plate covored in barium platinocyanide would glow in a dark as much as two meters away from the cathode ray. On further investigation he discovored that putting objects of varying thicknesses in the path of the cathode ray produces different shadows. He did not know what to call it so he termed them X-rays. His first "roentgenogram" was done on his wifes hand and you can see her bones and the ring on her finger (below). All his experimentation finally got to him later in life and he lost a few fingers due to the radiation.