Röntgen and the discovery of X-rays

This review celebrates the events of 100 years ago to the month of publication of this November 1995 issue of the British Journal of Radiology, when X-rays were discovered by Röntgen (8 November 1895) and he was working in his laboratory leading up to his 28 December 1895 communication "On a new kind of ray". Biographical details of Röntgen are given, together with his work in Würzburg before the discovery and popular and scientific opinion in the immediate months after the world first learned of the existence of X-rays. Some of Röntgen's apparatus is illustrated, accompanied by typical advertisements of 1896-1897. Where appropriate I have included information related to the UK, concerning, for example, Sir Arthur Schuster and Lord Kelvin; there is also a mention of the Röntgen Society, the forerunner of today's British Institute of Radiology.