https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/e3a5ba7fa04866b1f2ec088e7a720f5b.jpg f8041e531ac33d55cd887eb7fdcc6ee2 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph (negative) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives and Special Collections; Caltech Images Collection, Identifier: 10.46-10 [Accessed February 5, 2026: <a href="https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/111728">https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/111728</a>] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Circa 1928 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photograph (negative) Available on the archives as a digital image (.jpg) [1935 x 2565 px] Title A name given to the resource Charles C. Lauritsen and Robert A. Millikan Standing Atop the Million Volt X-ray Tube Description An account of the resource This photograph shows a defining moment in the early shape of physics research and study at Caltech: Charles C. Lauritsen and Robert A. Millikan standing atop the million volt X-ray tube at Caltech's High Voltage laboratory (c. 1928). Initially, work at Caltech's High Voltage Laboratory (Hi Volts) powered Los Angeles through long-distance power lines, including lines to the Hoover Dam (Fowler). However, C. C. Lauritsen's move to Caltech in 1926 started a transition towards prolific nuclear physics research at the institute. Using his experience with radios, Lauritsen built the million-volt X-ray tube in 1928, and his electroscope innovation made a statement of Hi Volts' ability to use simple hand-held devices to perform large-scale calculations and phenomenological detections. Lauritsen's high-voltage innovations prompted Millikan to request W. K. Kellogg for financing a new laboratory. (Lauritsen; Fowler) The creation of the million volt X-ray tube brought a paradigm shift in Caltech's physics research. Because these tubes were far more powerful than standard hospital tubes, Caltech was able to explore cancer therapy with high-voltage X-rays. By the 1930s, these medical X-ray technologies moved to the Kellogg Radiation Lab, leaving space for Hi Volts to expand its nuclear physics research and programs prior to World War II. Unfortunately, Kellogg's X-rays were turned off in 1939 due to commercialization of tubes in hospitals. (Lauritsen) While Caltech's labs pivoted towards defense projects during WWII, all war-related work was eventually transferred to China Lake in 1945. With the war did come changes in the goals of the Kellogg lab, with Lauritsen pushing towards low-energy physics, leading towards observation of nuclear reactions in stars. (Fowler) Works Cited <div> <div> Fowler, William A. “Phyphty Years of Phun and Physics in Kellogg.” Engineering & Science, Mar. 1982, resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:45.4.Phowler. </div> Lauritsen, Thomas. “Kellogg Laboratory: The Early Years.” Engineering & Science, June 1969, resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:32.9.kellogg. </div>