PROJECTION MICRO-RADIOGRAPHY

A considerable amount of additional fine microstructural detail is latently available in radiographs but high resolution techniques are necessary to derive the information in a useful form. This paper explains how the research and enthusiasm of Cosslett and his team (notably Nixon) at the Cavendish Laboratory around the early 1950s resulted in the first practical projection microradiographic system. This not only opened up the possibility of extreme resolution of radiographic detail (down to 0·1 μm) but triggered off a sequence of events that has ensured that high definition radiographic techniques are now an accepted technique for both biological and medical research and routine industrial diagnostics. 1979 Blackwell Science Ltd