ing Albert Einstein (Spangenburg 75).In November of 1895, a physicist named Wilhelm Rontgen discovered the X-ray. Rontgen called it the X-ray because it was an unknown ray that his experiments showed could pass through solid objects. This discovery marked a turning point in modern physics. This discovery would prove to be the pivotal turning point from classical physics into the modern age (Spangenburg 4). Rontgens discovery of the X-ray spurred new and exciting ideas about the atom. The X-ray also opened up the door to nuclear power. For his efforts in the discovery and initial research with X-rays, Wilhelm Rontgen became the first recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics (Spangenburg 7).Among the physicists that participated in this revolution with Rontgen were such noteworthy names as Henri Becquerel, Ernest Rutherford, and Marie Curie. Becquerel used this new idea from Rontgens X-rays to discover a new form of radiation from uranium salts. Rutherford has been called the Newton of atomic physics because of his discovery of atomic structure. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for physics and she also won a Nobel Prize for chemistry (Spangenburg 8-17).With the beginning of the 20th century, physics was changing at an incredible pace. New discoveries were being made that were rapidly changing the way we viewed time, space and the universe. It was truly the dawn of a new and exciting time for physics.During the transition from the 19th to the 20th century, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley conducted experiments with light in an effort to learn about a substance called ether. Ether was the theoretical substance in which light was supposed to travel. Their experiments proved conclusively that ether did not exist at all! This placed the question before them of how light could travel in wave form with out a medium in which to travel. It further put into motion a series of experiments that would conclude that li...
