Jayaraman, Photo Discussion

This image, captured by Dr. Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, is in equal parts photojournalistic and medical: it depicts the first x-ray ever taken. Röntgen, a physicist, was testing whether cathode rays could travel through glass when he accidentally discovered the x-ray. He soon noticed that the rays would pass through objects, but leave shadows of solid objects. 

He used the rays on various inanimate objects before he created this image of his wife's hand. She was none too keen on the image — in fact, when she saw it, she said "I have seen my death." His invention, however, revolutionized medicine. Röntgen won the Nobel prize for physics in 1901 for his discovery of x-rays. 

I chose this photo because its very existence of it marks a major turning point in history. X-rays continue to be a cornerstone of modern medicine, and developing upon the idea of imaging within the human body has led us to the MRI and CT scanning. Were it not for Röntgen's accidental discovery, who knows if internal medicine would have progressed so far? Medical imaging has saved the lives of many of my family members. I think it's interesting that the subject of the image didn't like the photo — I suppose, when internal imagery was nonexistent, a picture of one's own skeleton might be frightening.