These Mysterious Rays: A Nontechnical Discussion of the Uses of X Rays and Radium, Chiefly in Medicine

by Alan L. Hart

218 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1943

About the author

Alan L. Hart was a physician, radiologist, and tuberculosis researcher who pioneered the use of X-ray photography in tuberculosis detection. He worked in sanitariums and clinics in New Mexico, Illinois, Washington, and Idaho. For the last 16 years of his life, he headed mass X-ray programs that screened for tuberculosis in Connecticut. His work established the practice of using X-rays to screen for tuberculosis, which is still how tuberculosis is diagnosed today, and he is credited with saving countless lives.

As a fiction author, Hart published nine short stories and four novels, most of which were medical romances.

Sometime around 1917, Hart became one of the first trans men in the United States to undergo a hysterectomy.