Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad

Ueber eine neue Art von Strahlen (Vorläufige Mittheilung). —  Eine neue Art von Strahlen (II. Mittheilung). Offprints from Sitzungs-Bericht der physikalisch-medicinischen Gesellschaft zu Würzburg, no. 9 (1895) and nos. 1 & 2 (1896). Würzburg: Stahel'sche k. Hof.-und Universitäts- Buch- Und Kunsthandlung, "Ende 1895" & 1896



2 volumes, 8vo (8 5/8 x 5 3/4 in.; 220 x 145 mm). Original printed yellow wrappers (part 1) and original printed orange wrappers (upper wrapper only, part 2), in a single blue half-morocco clamshell box; edges and corners of part 2 frayed.

Dibner 162; Garrison-Morton 2683 & Grolier/Horblit 90 citing the journal issue; Klickstein, Röntgen, pp. 1-28, 29-30; Norman 1841 & 1842; PMM 380

edges and corners of part 2 frayed.
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First editions of the announcement of the discovery of x-rays.

Röntgen observed, while performing experiments with a type of cathode-ray tube sealed at the ends with platinum terminals, that some agent produced in the tube was causing barium platinocyanide crystals to flouresce, the flouresence proceeding from the spot where cathode rays hit the wall of the vacuum tube. He announced this discovery in the first of the present papers, describing the photographic properties of the rays and their ability to penetrate all substances including living flesh.

To assure rapid publication, he submitted his paper to an obscure medical journal. Offprints were printed at the same time which the author sent to a number of colleagues. "It was this separate printing [and later issues] ... that were primarily responsible for the rapid dissemination of the news of Röntgen's discovery" (Klickstein, p. 62).

His second paper reported that x-rays make air conductive, and described innovations in equipment designed for the optimal production of x-rays.

The world's response to the discovery was remarkably swift. The general public was struck by the magical nature of the new rays, and the scientific community bought tubes and generators in large numbers. Among Röntgen's many prizes for this discovery was the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.