Robert Bunsen’s Followers (7)

Robert Bunsen

Born

in Göttingen, Kingdom of Westphalia, Confederation of the Rhine, Germany

March 30, 1811

Died

August 16, 1899

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bunsen

Genre

Science, Chemistry

Influences

Carl Friedrich Gauss, Gustav Kirchhoff, Adolf von Baeyer, Joseph von F ...more

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Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic chemistry. With his laboratory assistant, Peter Desaga, he developed the Bunsen burner, an improvement on the laboratory burners then in use. The Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award for spectroscopy is named after Bunsen and Kirchhoff. Bunsen burners are still used today, in labs around the world.

Robert Bunsen was born at Göttingen in 1811, in what is now the state of Lower Saxony in Germany but was then the sh Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic chemistry. With his laboratory assistant, Peter Desaga, he developed the Bunsen burner, an improvement on the laboratory burners then in use. The Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award for spectroscopy is named after Bunsen and Kirchhoff. Bunsen burners are still used today, in labs around the world.

Robert Bunsen was born at Göttingen in 1811, in what is now the state of Lower Saxony in Germany but was then the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia; upon the defeat of Napoleon three years later Göttingen became part of the Kingdom of Hanover, then in a personal union with the United Kingdom under King George III. Bunsen was the youngest of four sons of the University of Göttingen's chief librarian and professor of modern philology, Christian Bunsen (1770–1837). Sources disagree on Robert Bunsen's exact birth date. His parish register, as well as two curricula vitae handwritten by Bunsen himself, support the claim that 30 March 1811 is Bunsen's true birth date; however, many later sources cite 31 March as the date. According to his biographer Georg Lockemann, Bunsen himself celebrated his birthday on the 31st in his later years. Lockemann nevertheless regarded the 30th as the correct date.

After attending school in Holzminden, Bunsen matriculated at Göttingen in 1828 and studied chemistry with Friedrich Stromeyer as well as mineralogy with Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann and mathematics with Carl Friedrich Gauss. After obtaining a Ph.D. in 1831, Bunsen spent 1832 and 1833 traveling in Germany, France, and Austria; Friedlieb Runge (who discovered aniline and in 1819 isolated caffeine), Justus von Liebig in Giessen, and Eilhard Mitscherlich in Bonn were among the many scientists he met on his journeys.

Bunsen was one of the most universally admired scientists of his generation. He was a master teacher, devoted to his students, and they were equally devoted to him. At a time of vigorous and often caustic scientific debates, Bunsen always conducted himself as a perfect gentleman, maintaining his distance from theoretical disputes. He much preferred to work quietly in his laboratory, continuing to enrich his science with useful discoveries. As a matter of principle he never took out a patent. He never married.

When Bunsen retired at the age of 78, he shifted his work solely to geology and mineralogy, interests which he had pursued throughout his career. He died in Heidelberg at the age of 88. ...more

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Average rating: 3.82 · 11 ratings · 1 review · 41 distinct works

	Gesammelte Abhandlungen von Robert Bunsen im Auftrage der Deutschen Bunsen-Gesellschaft für Angewandte Physikalische Chemie, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anleitung zur Analyse der Aschen& Mineralwasser 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untersuchungen 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untersuchungen Über die Kakodylreihe 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gasometry: Comprising The Leading Physical And Chemical Properties Of Gases 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Photochemische Untersuchungen, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Méthodes Gazométriques... by Robert Bunsen, Th. Schneider 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gesammelte Abhandlungen Von Robert Bunsen 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gasometrische Methoden 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Enumeratio Ac Descriptio Hygrometrorum Quae Inde A Saussurii Temporibus Proposita Sunt 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Robert Bunsen (?)

“At the moment I am occupied by an investigation with Kirchhoff which does not allow us to sleep. Kirchhoff has made a totally unexpected discovery, inasmuch as he has found out the cause for the dark lines in the solar spectrum and can produce these lines artificially intensified both in the solar spectrum and in the continuous spectrum of a flame, their position being identical with that of Fraunhofer’s lines. Hence the path is opened for the determination of the chemical composition of the Sun and the fixed stars.”
― Robert Bunsen

tags: astronomy, cause, chemistry, discovery, fraunhofer, gustav-kirchhoff, investigation, joseph-von-fraunhofer, kirchhoff, science, stars, sun

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Robert Bunsen’s Followers (7)

Robert Bunsen

Combine EditionsRobert Bunsen’s books

Combine Editions
Robert Bunsen’s books