Subject: ‘Science’

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Discovery of X-rays

Posted in Historical articles, History, Medicine, Science on Friday, 29 April 2016

This edited article about Wilhelm Rontgen and X-rays originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 793 published on 26th March 1977.

 Wilhelm Rontgen, picture, image, illustration

Professor Wilhelm Rontgen and the all-seeing eye by Wilf Hardy

Professor Wilhelm Rontgen, a physicist at Wurzburg in Bavaria, leaned over the tube he was experimenting on and carefully covered it completely with black paper.

He had been working all day in his laboratory, and now it was late in the evening and getting dark. The tube he had covered so that no light could escape from it was called a Crookes tube, through which cathode rays are passed.

Rontgen, straightening up for a moment, saw before him in the gathering gloom, an extraordinary sight. Several yards away from him was a piece of cardboard he had been using in another experiment. The cardboard had been coated with a chemical which glows when light falls upon it. There was at that moment scarely any light at all in the laboratory, yet –

The cardboard was glowing!

Rontgen stared in disbelief. This was no ordinary light: it was bright green. But where was it coming from?

The only possible source of light in the laboratory was the Crookes tube, which he had just covered with black paper. Now Rontgen groped towards the tube and switched off the electricity supply to it. At once the green light from the cardboard went out.

When he switched it on again, the ghostly green light reappeared.

Puzzled, Rontgen held his hand between the tube and the cardboard screen. To his astonishment, the invisible rays of light which were apparently passing through the black paper, now passed right through his hand and cast a shadow of his bones upon the cardboard.

Rontgen had so little idea of what these rays were that he named them X-rays.

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The best pictures from educational trade cards, 113

Posted in Actors, Best pictures, Customs, Discoveries, Famous Composers, Famous crimes, Famous Inventors, Historical articles, History, Inventions, Leisure, Science, Theatre on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows a scene from Tosca.

La Tosca, picture, image, illustration

La Tosca by Sardou

The second picture shows a kite flying festival in the imperial gardens, China.

kites, picture, image, illustration

Kite flying festival in the imperial gardens, China

The third picture shows Nikola Tesla’s experiment producing light generated by an electric transformer, 1895.

Nikola Tesla, picture, image, illustration

Nikola Tesla's experiment producing light generated by an electric transformer, 1895

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 99

Posted in Ancient History, Animals, Arts and Crafts, Astronomy, Best pictures, Educational card, Historical articles, History, Inventions, Literature, Philosophy, Plants, Rivers, Science, Transport, Travel, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Hannibal crossing the Rhone with his army and elephants, 218 BC.

Hannibal, picture, image, illustration

Hannibal crossing the Rhone with his army and elephants, 218 BC

The second picture shows Ancient Egyptian papermakers.

papyrus, picture, image, illustration

Ancient Egyptian papermakers

The third picture shows Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist.

Aristotle, picture, image, illustration

Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 88

Posted in Ancient History, Architecture, Art, Arts and Crafts, Best pictures, Customs, Educational card, Geography, Historical articles, History, Leisure, Religion, Science on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Caliph Mamun making the first measurement of the Equator.

Caliph Mamun, picture, image, illustration

Caliph Mamun Makes the First Measurement of the Equator

The second picture shows a Druid priest performing a human sacrifice.

Druid, picture, image, illustration

Druid sacrifice

The third picture shows a public art gallery.

Gallery, picture, image, illustration

Enjoying the Fine Arts

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 80

Posted in Best pictures, Educational card, Famous crimes, Famous news stories, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Leisure, Literature, News, Politics, Religion, Science, Weapons on Wednesday, 25 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Don Quixote.

Don Quixote, picture, image, illustration

Don Quixote

The second picture shows the Armenian Massacres, 1894-1896.

Armenian Massacres, picture, image, illustration

Armenian Massacres, 1894-1896

The third picture shows a novel illustration of the physics of Lightning.

Lightning, picture, image, illustration

Lightning

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 78

Posted in Ancient History, Architecture, Astronomy, Best pictures, Castles, Discoveries, Educational card, Famous landmarks, Fashion, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Legend, Leisure, Music, Religion, Rivers, Royalty, Science, Space on Wednesday, 25 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Johannes Kepler and a total eclipse of the Sun.

Keppler, picture, image, illustration

Johannes Kepler and a total eclipse of the Sun

The second picture shows Sciarra Colonna slapping Pope Boniface VIII across the face, 1303.

Colonna, picture, image, illustration

Sciarra Colonna slapping Pope Boniface VIII across the face, 1303

The third picture shows King Arthur’s Round Table.

King Arthur, picture, image, illustration

King Arthur's Round Table

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 64

Posted in Ancient History, Animals, Best pictures, Communications, Educational card, Famous battles, games, Historical articles, History, Leisure, Medicine, News, Science, War on Wednesday, 25 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows a laboratory for medical research into bacteria.

bacteria, picture, image, illustration

The art of curing – medical research laboratory

The second picture shows Pheidippides bringing news of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

Pheidippides, picture, image, illustration

Pheidippides brings news of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at Marathon, 490 BC

The third picture shows a Gaming room at Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo, picture, image, illustration

Gaming room, Monte Carlo, Monaco

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 63

Posted in Animals, Best pictures, Children, Educational card, English Literature, Fairy Tale, Historical articles, History, Legend, Literature, Magic, Music, Mystery, Oddities, Religion, Science, Wildlife on Wednesday, 25 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Hamelin, picture, image, illustration

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The second picture shows the miraculous birth of Zoroaster.

 Zoroaster, picture, image, illustration

The miraculous birth of Zoroaster

The third picture shows a demonstration of Light projection.

Light projection, picture, image, illustration

Light projection

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 44

Posted in Ancient History, Best pictures, Children, Customs, Dance, Disasters, Education, Educational card, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Music, Science on Tuesday, 24 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the death of Pliny the Elder in the eruption of Vesuvius.

Pliny, picture, image, illustration

Death of Pliny the Elder in the eruption of Vesuvius, 79

The second picture shows children using a prism to demonstrate the spectrum of sunlight.

prism, picture, image, illustration

Using a prism to demonstrate the spectrum of sunlight

The third picture shows the tarantella, a traditional Italian dance.

dance, picture, image, illustration

Dancing the tarantella, Italy

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 36

Posted in Architecture, Arts and Crafts, Best pictures, Communications, Discoveries, Educational card, Famous battles, Famous Inventors, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Invasions, Inventions, Language, Legend, Literature, Medicine, Myth, Religion, Royalty, Science on Tuesday, 24 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Mehmed the Conqueror, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed, picture, image, illustration

Mehmed the Conqueror, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, makes his triumphal entrance into the Hagia Sophia after capturing Constantinople, 1453

The second picture shows Edward Jenner, who discovered a vaccine against smallpox.

Jenner, picture, image, illustration

Edward Jenner, English doctor and scientist who discovered a vaccine against smallpox

The third picture shows Scandinavian runes.

runes, picture, image, illustration

Scandinavian runes

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.