The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) is a

radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

society and

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is the oldest institute of its kind in the world, forming on 2 April 1897.

History

The society can be traced back to two separate institutes, "The X-Ray Society" in April, 1897, and "The Röntgen Society"; both were formed in the wake of the discovery of

X-rays An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

Wilhelm Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; 27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Roentgen ( ), was a German physicist who produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. As ...

in 1895. The latter was founded by Dr John Macintyre in 1897. He had been the first person in Britain to use X-rays, using equipment created by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin at Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 5 February 1896. The formalisation of the BIR occurred in 1927 upon the merger of the two societies. The BIR became a registered charity in 1963. Among other publications, the BIR publishes several journals including the '' British Journal of Radiology'' (BJR), and ''Dentomaxillofacial Radiology'' (the official journal of the International Association of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, IADMFR). The '' Archives of Clinical Skiagraphy'', first published in 1896, ultimately became the BJR in 1928.

Notable past presidents

* 1897-98 Silvanus P Thompson * 1907-08

William Duddell William Du Bois Duddell (1 July 1872, in Kensington, London – 4 November 1917, in Wandsworth, London) was an English physicist and electrical engineer. His inventions include the moving coil oscillograph, as well as the ammeter, thermo-ammete ...

* 1922-23 Sir Humphry Rolleston * 1923-24 Sir Oliver Lodge * 1972-73 Robert Steiner * 1973-74 Frank Farmer * 2003-04 Janet Husband

Arms

References

External links

The British Institute of Radiology website
{{authority control Health in the London Borough of Islington Medical associations based in the United Kingdom Medical imaging in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington Organizations with year of establishment missing Radiology professional associations