100 years of x-rays

The seminal discoveries in electricity in the early years of the nineteenth century made possible electrical communication and electricity supply. They also laid the foundations for a series of discoveries towards the end of the century which were to have equally far reaching effects. One of these was the discovery of X-rays late in 1895. This paper examines the scientific background to that discovery and the reaction to its announcement, the medical and nonmedical uses of X-rays, the research they made possible, and the other important discoveries which followed from them