Robert Wilhelm Bunsen
1811-1899
Bunsen's Life
The son of a
German linguistics professor from the
University of Grottingen, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen entered the world on March 31, 1811. He studied
chemisty at
Gottingen, and while he was still young, Bunsen had a series of appointments in various
universities as a
lecturer.
In 1852, Robert Bunsen was appointed the Professor of
Experimental Chemistry at the
University of Heidelberg, and he kept this position for the rest of his working life.
Robert Bunsen's greatest achievement in the
field of chemistry may in fact have been his contribution as a
teacher. Friendly and approachable, Bunsen became
ranked at the level of the other great German science lecturers of the day,
Wohler and
Leibig, and was accorded great respect. Students flocked from all parts of the globe in order to study under Bunsen.
Although Bunsen was a warm character, he never
married, instead choosing to devote his life to his scientific work and to his
students.
Robert Bunsen worked in chemistry and published
scientific papers until he was nearly 80 years old. Bunsen died, approximately ten years later on August 16, 1899.
Important Research Work
Believe it or not, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen's first (completely
voluntary) important researches were on a dangerous, evil-smelling
organic compounds of
arsenic. During his work on the substances, one experiment
exploded,
blinding him in one eye. Consequently, Bunsen suffered
arsenic poisoning from which he almost died.
Not surprisingly, after that failed arsenic experiment, Bunsen turned his research away from
organic chemistry, and no longer allowed it to be studied in his Heidelberg
laboratory.
Bunsen is best known, however, for his invention of a number of useful pieces of
laboratory equipment. He invented the
grease-spot thermometer (comparisons of
light intensity), a
battery (1.9 V
cell with
zinc and
carbon electrodes) and the
ice calorimeter (measuring the
heat capacities of substances available in small amounts).
The
Bunsen Burner, which bears his name and is
standard in almost every
chemical laboratory worldwide, was actually invented by Bunsen's
technician,
Peter Desaga.
Bunsen's most significant work was his
pioneer study of
chemical spectroscopy with
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, the study of
light passed through a
prism. The two
scientists invented the
spectroscope, which was based on the principle that a
spectrum of light given out by an
alloy of two
metals showed the lines of both, and:
"
Thus a means has been found to determine the composition of the sun and fixed stars with the same accuracy that we determine sulphuric acid, chlorine etc., with our chemical reagents. Substances on this earth can be determined by this method just as easily as on the sun, so that, for example, I have been able to detect lithium in twenty grams of sea water." (Bunsen)
This work has been of great importance to
chemistry.
Source: "Chemistry for Sixth Forms" by A.H. Wooff, D.T. Howarth and R.C. Rendle