Sir William Crookes (1832–1919) Biography with special reference to X-rays

Abstract

Sir William Crookes was one of the most famous scientists towards the end of the 19th and in the early 20th centu­ries and even today, his face with its waxed moustache is easily recognisable among scientists, (Fig. 1). His name is forever associated with the Crookes tube, a gas discharge tube used for the production of X-rays. He is also famous for being one of the few men who had actually produced X-rays in an experimental environment, but who never recognised them as such. He could have preceded Röntgen in the discovery of X-rays by some 15 years! He was a physicist, chemist and inventor, discovering the metal thallium in 1861 and devising the radiometer as a measu­ring device, and the spinthariscope. He used radium to study the artificial changes in colour of diamonds. Towards the latter part of his life he became interested in spiritualism and in some circles lost a certain amount of credibility because of this interest. He received many honours, including the 1907 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, President of the Royal Society and a knighthood.