2003: A centennial of spinthariscope and scintillation counting

In 1903 W. Crookes demonstrated in England his “spinthariscope” for the visual observation of individual scintillations caused by alpha particles impinging upon a ZnS screen. In contrast to the analogue methods of radiation measurements in that time the spinthariscope was a single-particle counter,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied radiation and isotopes 2004-08, Vol.61 (2), p.261-266
Main Authors: Kolar, Z.I., den Hollander, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
History
Radioactive emanations
Scintillations
Sidot's blende
Spinthariscope
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Summary:In 1903 W. Crookes demonstrated in England his “spinthariscope” for the visual observation of individual scintillations caused by alpha particles impinging upon a ZnS screen. In contrast to the analogue methods of radiation measurements in that time the spinthariscope was a single-particle counter, being the precursor of scintillation counters since. In the same period F. Giesel, J. Elster and H. Geitel in Germany also found that scintillations from ZnS represent single particle events. This paper summarises the historical events relevant to the advent of scintillation counting.
ISSN:0969-8043
1872-9800
DOI:10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.03.056