The ability of radiation to produce luminescence in certain types of materials was recognized by Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) in 1899. The first application of the principle in a detecting device was made by William Crookes in 1903 with the invention of the spinthariscope. Crookes' spinthariscope consisted of a brass tube with a zincsulfide screen at one end and a magnifying lens at the other end. A tiny crystal of a radioactive salt was mounted on a pin about a millimeter from the zinc sulfide screen. Radiation from the salt struck the screen, producing tiny flashes of light that could be viewed through the lens.

The potential for using such a device as a radiation detector and counter was noted by a number of investigators. Ernest Rutherfordwrote in 1904 that the Crookes device "would offer a very convenient means of actually counting the number of particles... if each particle...