How American surgeons introduced radiology into U.S. medicine

In 1985, Wilhelm Roentgen of Germany discovered "x-rays." His findings were so startling and the expectations for x-rays were of such inestimable value that, within just a few weeks, an English language translation of his paper was published verbatim in the United States. It was immediately apparent that the usefulness of x-rays for clinical diagnosis was implicit in their ability to demonstrate pathologic problems of the skeleton and to visualize foreign objects in the body. Not unexpectedly, it was surgeons who were the first group of clinicians to put the new discovery to immediate use. Consequently, during 1896, American surgeons were at the forefront of understanding and utilizing this new modality. By reviewing the work of William Keen, James White, De Forest Willard, and Carl Beck, it becomes apparent that U.S. surgeons acted as dutiful midwives during the birth of modern radiology.