THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISCOVERY BY ROENTGEN,WC FOR PRESENT-DAY MEDICAL PHYSICS AND RADIATION PROTECTION

When the German physicist W. C. Rontgen discovered X-rays, which were named after him, he introduced a new development in medicine and biolo gy: together with the discoveries of A. H. Becquerel and M. Curie, rad iology with its diagnostic and therapeutic methods was made possible. The medical physicist has an important task to fulfill in modern radio therapy, nuclear medicine and radiodiagnostics. The longtime interdisc iplinary collaboration has won the international recognition of medica l physics as a scientific discipline, a health care profession and a u niversity subject. Several incidents, including contemporary ones, sho w that the efforts made towards radiation protection must remain an im portant domain of the specialist.