| Discoveries during the last few years of the 19th century set the scene for momentous changes in atomic physics and medicine in the 20th century. X rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in November 1895. This was quickly followed by the discovery of radioactivity by Antoine Henri Becquerel between February and May 1896 and the demonstration that uranium was the source of the radiation. | A search for other substances exhibiting radioactivity led Pierre and
Marie Curie to announce in December 1898 that thorium and its compounds
were also radioactive; and they eventually isolated and characterised two
radioactive substances from pitchblende ore, which they named polonium
and radium. The use of x rays for diagnosing fractures and detecting
foreign objects in tissues, and of radium to treat deep seated tumours
led to the establishment of the science of radiology within years of these
discoveries.
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