Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton

Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton ( born October 18, 1863 in Edinburgh, Scotland, † February 19, 1930 in London) was a British electrical engineer.

His father was a professor of law at the University of Edinburgh.

After his schooling at Fettes College, he went from 1882 to 1887 in the electrical engineering department of William George Armstrong company in Elswick -on- Tyne. He developed cable with lead sheath, which prevented the penetration of moisture into the insulation and thus in shipbuilding triggered an important problem in the installation of electrical systems.

In 1887 he opened in London a private electric engineering office. After the November 8, 1895 X-rays were discovered, Swinton already published on 23 January 1896 in the journal Nature, his first photographic X-ray image. He first observed the effect of heat focused cathode rays.