Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

GERMAN PHYSICIST

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• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LAST UPDATED: Mar 23, 2019 See Article History

Alternative Title: Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Röntgen also spelled Roentgen, (born March 27, 1845, Lennep, Prussia [now Remscheid, Germany]—died February 10, 1923, Munich, Germany), physicist who was a recipient of the first Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1901, for his discovery of X-rays, which heralded the age of modern physics and revolutionized diagnostic medicine.

Röntgen studied at the Polytechnic in Zürich and then was professor of physics at the universities of Strasbourg (1876–79), Giessen (1879–88), Würzburg (1888–1900), and Munich (1900–20). His research also included work on elasticity, capillary action of fluids, specific heats of gases, conduction of heat in crystals, absorption of heat by gases, and piezoelectricity.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen.© Photos.com/Jupiterimages