William Henry Bragg developed experimental methods that turned crystal diffraction into X-ray spectroscopy. A crystal selects reflected radiation at particular angles, while a movable detector measures the reflected intensity. Relating these peaks to lattice-plane spacing connects an instrument reading with the wavelength of the incident radiation. His joint work with Lawrence Bragg established a quantitative relation between crystal geometry and X-ray reflection, helping make diffraction a practical probe of both radiation and structure.[ref]
The Reflection of X-rays by Crystals by William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 88, 428–438 (1913), reflection measurements and crystal geometry
Portrait of William Henry Bragg
. Nobel Foundation; portrait dated 1915, published in Sweden in Les Prix Nobel 1915 (1916), page 101; individual photographer unspecified. Commons PD-Sweden-photo: Swedish public-domain status under its simple-photograph or anonymous-photograph provisions., via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
William Henry Bragg (1862–1942) was a British physicist and inventor known for his contributions to the field of X-ray crystallography. He, along with his son William Lawrence Bragg, developed Bragg's law, which describes the relationship between the wavelength of X-rays and the crystal structure of materials. This work laid the foundation for determining the atomic structure of crystals.
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