Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- Obituary Notice
- 1876: Note on Certain Formulæ in the Calculus of Operations. (In a letter to Prof. Tait)
- 1876: An Experiment on Electro-Magnetic Rotation
- 1887: On the Foci of Lines seen through a Crystalline Plate
- 1877: On Certain Movements of Radiometers
- 1878: On the Question of a Theoretical Limit to the Apertures of Microscopic Objectives
- 1878: On an Easy and at the same time Accurate Method of Determining the Ratio of the Dispersions of Glasses intended for Objectives
- 1879: On a Method of detecting Inequalities of unknown periods in a series of Observations. (Note appended to a paper by Prof. B. Stewart and W. Dodgson)
- 1880: Description of the Card Supporter for Sunshine Recorders adopted at the Meteorological Office
- 1881: On a Simple Mode of Eliminating Errors of Adjustment in Delicate Observations of Compared Spectra
- 1881: Discussion of the Results of some Experiments with Whirled Anemometers
- 1878: On the Determination of the Constants of the Cup Anemometer by Experiments with a Whirling Machine
- 1881: Note on the Reduction of Mr Crookes's Experiments on the Decrement of the Arc of Vibration of a Mica Plate oscillating within a Bulb containing more or less Rarefied Gas
- 1882: On the Cause of the Light Border frequently noticed in Photographs just outside the Outline of a Dark Body seen against the Sky: with some Introductory Remarks on Phosphorescence
- 1882: Extracts from Reports of the Committee on Solar Physics
- 1882: Memorandum for the use of Observers with Professor Balfour Stewart's Actinometer, prepared by Professor G. G. Stokes, Sec.R.S., and adopted by the Committee on Solar Physics
- 1883: On the Highest Wave of Uniform Propagation. (Preliminary notice)
- 1880: On the Maximum Wave of Uniform Propagation, being a Second Supplement to a Paper on the Theory of Oscillatory Waves. (Not before published)
- 1891: Note on the Theory of the Solitary Wave
- 1895: The Outskirts of the Solitary Wave
- 1885: On a remarkable Phenomenon of Crystalline Reflection
- 1886: The Coefficient of Viscosity of Air
- 1889: Note on the Determination of Arbitrary Constants which appear as Multipliers of Semi-convergent Series
- 1891: On a Graphical Representation of the Results of Dr Alder Wright's Experiments on Ternary Alloys
- 1891: On an Optical Proof of the Existence of Suspended Matter in Flames
- 1891: On the Reactions occurring in Flames
- 1891: The Influence of Surface-Loading on the Flexure of Beams
- 1892: On the best Methods of Recording the direct Intensity of Solar Radiation
- 1896: On the Nature of the Röntgen Rays
- 1897: On the Nature of the Röntgen Rays (Wilde Lecture)
- 1898: Mathematical Proof of the Identity of the Stream Lines obtained by means of a Viscous Film with those of a Perfect Fluid moving in Two Dimensions
- 1902: On the Discontinuity of Arbitrary Constants that appear as Multipliers of Semi-Convergent Series
- 1886: On the Methods of Chemical Fractionation
- 1903: The Ultra-Violet Spectrum of Radium
- APPENDIX (Mathematical Tripos and Smith's Prize questions)
- INDEX
1896: On the Nature of the Röntgen Rays
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- Obituary Notice
- 1876: Note on Certain Formulæ in the Calculus of Operations. (In a letter to Prof. Tait)
- 1876: An Experiment on Electro-Magnetic Rotation
- 1887: On the Foci of Lines seen through a Crystalline Plate
- 1877: On Certain Movements of Radiometers
- 1878: On the Question of a Theoretical Limit to the Apertures of Microscopic Objectives
- 1878: On an Easy and at the same time Accurate Method of Determining the Ratio of the Dispersions of Glasses intended for Objectives
- 1879: On a Method of detecting Inequalities of unknown periods in a series of Observations. (Note appended to a paper by Prof. B. Stewart and W. Dodgson)
- 1880: Description of the Card Supporter for Sunshine Recorders adopted at the Meteorological Office
- 1881: On a Simple Mode of Eliminating Errors of Adjustment in Delicate Observations of Compared Spectra
- 1881: Discussion of the Results of some Experiments with Whirled Anemometers
- 1878: On the Determination of the Constants of the Cup Anemometer by Experiments with a Whirling Machine
- 1881: Note on the Reduction of Mr Crookes's Experiments on the Decrement of the Arc of Vibration of a Mica Plate oscillating within a Bulb containing more or less Rarefied Gas
- 1882: On the Cause of the Light Border frequently noticed in Photographs just outside the Outline of a Dark Body seen against the Sky: with some Introductory Remarks on Phosphorescence
- 1882: Extracts from Reports of the Committee on Solar Physics
- 1882: Memorandum for the use of Observers with Professor Balfour Stewart's Actinometer, prepared by Professor G. G. Stokes, Sec.R.S., and adopted by the Committee on Solar Physics
- 1883: On the Highest Wave of Uniform Propagation. (Preliminary notice)
- 1880: On the Maximum Wave of Uniform Propagation, being a Second Supplement to a Paper on the Theory of Oscillatory Waves. (Not before published)
- 1891: Note on the Theory of the Solitary Wave
- 1895: The Outskirts of the Solitary Wave
- 1885: On a remarkable Phenomenon of Crystalline Reflection
- 1886: The Coefficient of Viscosity of Air
- 1889: Note on the Determination of Arbitrary Constants which appear as Multipliers of Semi-convergent Series
- 1891: On a Graphical Representation of the Results of Dr Alder Wright's Experiments on Ternary Alloys
- 1891: On an Optical Proof of the Existence of Suspended Matter in Flames
- 1891: On the Reactions occurring in Flames
- 1891: The Influence of Surface-Loading on the Flexure of Beams
- 1892: On the best Methods of Recording the direct Intensity of Solar Radiation
- 1896: On the Nature of the Röntgen Rays
- 1897: On the Nature of the Röntgen Rays (Wilde Lecture)
- 1898: Mathematical Proof of the Identity of the Stream Lines obtained by means of a Viscous Film with those of a Perfect Fluid moving in Two Dimensions
- 1902: On the Discontinuity of Arbitrary Constants that appear as Multipliers of Semi-Convergent Series
- 1886: On the Methods of Chemical Fractionation
- 1903: The Ultra-Violet Spectrum of Radium
- APPENDIX (Mathematical Tripos and Smith's Prize questions)
- INDEX
Summary
In this communication the author explained the views he had been led to entertain as to the nature of the Röntgen rays, and to a certain extent the considerations which had led him to those conclusions. As Röntgen himself pointed out, the X rays have their origin in the portion of the wall of the Crookes' tube on which the so-called cathodic rays fall, and it is natural that our notions as to the nature of the X rays should be intimately bound up with those we entertain as to the nature of the cathodic rays. Two different views have been adopted on this question. Several eminent German physicists hold that the cathodic rays are essentially a process going on in the ether, the nature of which nobody has been able to explain; and that if any propulsion of molecules from the cathode accompanies them, it is merely a secondary phenomenon. The other view is that the cathodic rays are not proper rays at all, but that they are essentially streams of molecules. The latter view is that which, so far as the author knows, is universally adopted in this country. The author expressed the fullest conviction that the cathodic rays are no mere process going on in the ether, but that the propulsion of molecules is of the very essence of the phenomenon; only it is to be remembered that the molecules are not to be thought of as acting merely dynamically, by virtue of their mass and velocity; they are carriers of electricity; and it would seem to be mainly to this circumstance that some at least of their effects are due.
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- Information
- Mathematical and Physical Papers , pp. 254 - 255Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1905