The Explosion of Papers Following the Announcement of the X-Ray, 1896

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 2393

Looking through a (massive, 20-pound!) volume of Electrical World¹ I found that it  contains some of the earliest work published in the United States on Wilhelm Roentgen's seminal discovery of the X-Ray, which he published on November 8, 1895. And there were a lot of papers--more than 100. One reason why the work was done by so many and so quickly is that Roentgen did not seek to patent his invention (much like the Curies would do so afterwards) and so there was a land-grab by hundreds of physicists and experimenters to do work in this astonishing new field. 

The photograph ("Hand with Ring")  below is Roentgen's own, an x-ray of his wife Bertha's hand--it is one of the iconic images in the history of modern science:

[Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Electrical World is the third place that the Roentgen paper was reprinted, this time for the first time in an American journal, one day before the appearance of the The Electrician article, which was one day after the publication of the paper's first appearance in English, in the journal Nature, on 23 January 1896.  (The Electrician would also publish Roentgen's second article later in that same year, in March.) The Roentgen article does not seem to be reprinted in full anywhere else in 1896/1897. (See Charles Phillips, Bibliography of X-Ray Literature and Research, (1896-1897), published by The Electrician, 1898.)

Thomas Edison was among those who were among the first to work on the X-Ray in the U.S.; included in the volume are several exceptionally early notices on Edison's contribution to the field, the fluoroscope.

There are ore than 100 short articles and notices, including the following earliest examples:

• The New Photography, page 95, January 25, 1896. Short announcement notice, 3 paragraphs.
• Dark Light Photography, cy C.J. Reed, Feb 1, 1896, #5. Half page article.
• Roentgen's Photographs, by Amos E. Dolbear, February 8, 1896, # 6, page 147.
• The New Photography, February 8, 1896, 147-149, with drawings and an X-Ray photograph. 
• Roentgen's Rays, 15 February 1896,#7, pp171-172, including four photographs,one of which is the famous Bertha Roentgen's hand. 
• Rontgen Rays, February 22, 1896, #    8, p. 195
• Rontgen Rays, February 22, 1896, #8, pp 195-196, with photo illustrations.
• On the Rays of Leonard and Rontgen, by Oliver Lodge, p 198-199
• Rontgen Rays, February 29, 1896, #9, pp 219-221, with four photos.
• On the Present Hypotheses Concerning the Nature of Rontgen Rays, by Oliver Lodge.  February 29, 1896, pp  225-227.
• Rontgen Radiographs, March 7, 1896, #10, pp 243-244, including a full-length (half-page vertical) X-Ray photo of a hand!
• Stereoscopic Rontgen Pictures, by Elihu Thompson, March 14, 1896, #11,p. 280, two photographs.
• Experiments with Roentgen Rays, by Alexander Macfarlane, MArch 14, 1896, #11, page 283, two photos.
• (Edison) Edison's Rontgen Ray Work. By E.J. Houston  and A.E. Kennelly, page 308, March 21, 1896.
• Roentgen's Ray Experiments, by Dayton C. Miller (1 illus). Page 309, March 21, 1896.
• Roentgen's Rays. (Editor). Page 309, March 21, 1896.

and many others.

Notes:

1.  Electrical World, volume 27+28 bound together, 792+798pp, profusely illustrated.  Published in New York by Johnston, 1896.