Many of the greatest scientific discoveries are eventually changed and adapted for more practical and widespread use. Since its discovery by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895, the use of the X-ray has become ...

In the 1940s and ’50s, shoe stores were dangerous places. At the time, however, few people were aware of this. In fact, to the average kid being dragged by her parents to try on new Mary Janes, the ...

How do you tell if a shoe is a good fit? Take a short walk? Squeeze the front-end with your fingers to make sure there is space for your toes? What about a dangerous, 20-second blast of unshielded ...

History contains many examples of medical functions performed by frighteningly unqualified people. Barbers once were also dentists. Whoever was the oldest lady in the village was also a midwife. And x ...

In Los Angeles, a television and wirephoto wizard named Leroy J. Leishman (he thought up push-button radio tuning) has perfected a stereo-fluoroscope which gives a three-dimensional view of the body’s ...

If you were born anywhere between 1920 and about 1950, you probably recall an odd-looking cabinet that once lured customers into shoe stores across the country. The shoe-fitting fluoroscope used ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...

- an X-ray machine that combines an X-ray source and a fluorescent screen to enable direct observation ...