THE X-RAY CENTENNIAL - THOMPSONS AND THOMSONS

When x rays were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen in November, 1895, the news spread rapidly through Europe, Great Britain, and the United Sta tes and many individuals became involved in their development. Some of the more prominent participants shared the name of Thompson or Thomso n, which causes confusion when the history of x rays is discussed beca use of their similar pronunciation. In Britain they were William Thomp son (Lord Kelvin), J. J. Thomson, and Silvanus P. Thompson and in the United States it was Elihu Thomson. In addition, one of the first book s on x rays published in the United States was written by Edward Thomp son.