Penn Physicist’s Accidental Images Among earliest Known X-Rays
PHILADELPHIA – โThe University โขof Pennsylvania has received a collectionโ of photographic plates containing some of the earliest known โX-ray images,created accidentally by Penn โphysicist Arthur Goodspeed in 1890 – years โคbefore Wilhelm Conrad Rรถntgen‘s groundbreakingโฃ work โฃwas widelyโฃ publicized. The images, revealed Tuesday, depict faint shadows created when โradiation from a Crookes tube interacted with coins andโข photographic plates left in a lecture room.
The finding offers a rare glimpse into the โnascent stages of radiology โand highlights a parallel, largely unknown, exploration โขof X-ray technology happening โconcurrently with Rรถntgen’s celebrated โฃexperiments. While Rรถntgen is credited with discovering X-rays โin 1895 and publishing โhis findings in 1896,โ Goodspeed’s work demonstrates โthat similar phenomena were being observed and documented in Philadelphia several years prior.
goodspeed and photographer William Jenningsโฃ were experimenting โwith electrical charges to create images of coinsโฃ and โbrass weights when the accidental images were created. After their โฃwork was complete, they stacked โphotographic plates and left coinsโ nearby.Goodspeed then demonstrated Crookes โtubes -โ glass cylinders used to study cathode rays – to jennings. โUnbeknownst to them, the radiation emitted from โthe tubeโค exposed the photographic plates, creating the mysterious shadows.
“Heโฃ knew something happened and ‘I might want to look at this someday’ sort of thing,” said Universityโ Archivist John Bence, referring to Goodspeed’s decision to preserve โขthe images.
At the time, the scientists couldn’t explainโข the markings.Simultaneously occurring, Rรถntgen, in Germany, was intentionally experimenting with โcrookes tubes and electric currents, ultimately developing a method to capture images of โคobjects based on their differing โdensities. His famous 1895 image of his โขwife’s hand, โฃrevealing her bones and a ring, became iconic.
Theโ newly donated images underscore the complex history of scientific discovery and the frequently enough-unforeseen paths thatโค leadโค toโ major breakthroughs.The collection will be preserved by theโฃ University Archives and made available for research and educational purposes.
