Spectacular rediscovery of the original prints of radiographs Roentgen sent to Lorentz in 1896

Abstract

Abstract Background Ninety years after the Dutch theoretical physicist H.A. Lorentz died, detailed investigation of his scientific heritage yielded the set of nine original prints of radiographs that W.C. Roentgen made during his experiments and had sent him, among half a dozen other scientists, on January 1st, 1896. Main text Through communications with different experts and literature research, the author describes these nine prints and how they relate to the first publication Roentgen wrote about his discovery of the X-rays. Conclusions The combination of Roentgen’s first publication on his X-ray discovery and the nine radiographs provides insight as to which aspects of the discovery were considered important by Roentgen and how he carried out the experiments to be able to describe these aspects.