You can then extrapolate backwards from the locations of the deflected X-rays to figure out the relative locations of the crystal atoms. ![]() When X-rays are passed through a crystal, some of the X-rays are bent or spread out (i.e., diffracted) by the atoms in the crystal. This works a bit like trying to figure out the size and shape of a building based on the shadow it casts: you can work backwards from the shape of the shadow to make a guess at the building’s dimensions. The discovery of X-rays also pointed William and William Bragg (a father-son team) in 19 to the idea that X-rays could be used to figure out the arrangements of atoms in a crystal (L). And these telescopes would, in turn, shed light on black holes, supernovas, and the origins of the universe (K). Additionally, the discovery of X-rays would eventually lead to the development of X-ray telescopes to detect radiation emitted by objects in deep space (J). And the CT scanner itself would soon be adopted by other branches of science - for neurological research, archaeology, and paleontology, in which CT scans are used to study the interiors of fossils (I). This discovery would, of course, shortly lead to the invention of the X-ray machine (G), which would in turn, evolve into the CT scan machine (H) - both of which would become essential to non-invasive medical diagnoses. Roentgen noticed that the rays revealed the faint shadow of the bones in his hand! Roentgen had discovered X-rays, a form of electromagnetic radiation (F). He tried to block the rays, but they passed right through paper, copper, and aluminum, but not lead. These new rays were invisible but caused a screen in his laboratory to light up. In 1895, the German physicist Wilhem Roentgen noticed that his cathode ray tube seemed to be producing some other sort of ray in addition to the lights inside the tube. On the technological front, the cathode ray tube would slowly evolve into the television (which is constructed from a cathode ray tube with the electron beam deflected in ways that produce an image on a screen) and, eventually, into many sorts of image monitors (D and E). The discovery of the electron would, in turn, lead to the discovery of the atomic nucleus in 1910 (C). In 1897, physicists would discover that these cathode rays were actually streams of electrons (B). Rays of eerie light shot across the tube. This was a sealed glass tube emptied of almost all air - but when an electric current was passed through the tube, it no longer seemed empty. ![]() We pick up our story in the late 1800s with a bit of technology that no one much understood at the time, but which was poised to change the face of science: the cathode ray tube (node A in the diagram below and pictured above). As an example, we’ll start with a single scientific idea and trace its applications and impact through several different fields of science and technology, from the discovery of electrons in the 1800s to modern forensics and DNA fingerprinting… From cathodes to crystallography A cathode ray tube from the early 1900s. ![]() Scientific knowledge allows us to build new technologies, which often allow us to make new observations about the world, which, in turn, allow us to build even more scientific knowledge, which then inspires another technology … and so on. Science and technology feed off of one another, propelling both forward.
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