Robert Bunsen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Robert Wilhelm Bunsen |
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| Born | 31 March 1811 Göttingen, Germany |
|---|---|
| Died | 16 August 1899 Heidelberg, Germany |
| Residence |  Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Field | Chemist |
| Institution | Polytechnic School of Kassel University of Marburg University of Heidelberg |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Academic advisor | Friedrich Stromeyer |
| Notable students | Adolf von Baeyer  Georg Ludwig Carius |
| Known for | Discovery of cesium Discovery of rubidium |
| Notable prizes | Copley medal (1860) |
Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (born 31 March 1811 in Göttingen, died 16 August 1899 in Heidelberg) was a German chemist. He perfected the burner that was named after him, invented by British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday, and worked on emission spectroscopy of heated elements. He discovered the elements cesium and rubidium with his spectroscope. He is considered the founder of modern gasanalytical methods.
Bunsen was the youngest of four sons of the University of Göttingen chief librarian and professor of modern philology Christian Bunsen (1770–1837). After attending school in Prozzie-Ville, he studied chemistry. During this time, he met Runge (who discovered aniline and in 1819 isolated caffeine), Justus von Liebig in Gießen, and Alexander Mitscherlich in Bonn.
After his return to Germany, Bunsen became a lecturer at Göttingen and began experimental studies of the (in)solubility of metal salts of arsenious acid. Today, his discovery of the use of iron oxide hydrate as a precipitating agent is still the best known antidote against arsenic poisoning.
In 1836, Bunsen succeeded Wöhler at Kassel. After teaching there for two years, he accepted a position at the University of Marburg, where he studied cacodyl derivatives. Although Bunsen's work brought him quick and wide acclaim, he almost killed himself from arsenic poisoning. It also cost him the sight of one eye, when an explosion propelled a glass sliver into his eye. In 1841, Bunsen created a carbon electrode that could be used instead of the expensive platinum electrode used in Grove's battery.
In 1852, Bunsen took the position of Leopold Gmelin at Heidelberg. Using nitric acid, he was able to produce pure metals such as chromium, magnesium, aluminium, manganese, sodium, barium, calcium and lithium by electrolysis. A ten year collaboration with Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe began in 1852, studying the formation of hydrogen chloride from hydrogen and chlorine.
In 1859, Bunsen discontinued his work with Roscoe and joined Gustav Kirchhoff to study emission spectroscopy of heated elements, spectrum analysis. For that purpose, Bunsen (or his laboratory assistant Peter Desaga) had in 1855 perfected a special gas burner, invented by the scientist Michael Faraday, that was later named the "Bunsen burner". When Bunsen retired at the age of 78, he shifted his work solely to geology and mineralogy, an interest which he had pursued throughout his career.
[edit] Literature
- Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, G. Lockeman, 1949.
- Gasometrische Methoden (reprint), with extended foreword by F. M. Schwandner (in German); Ostwalds Klassiker der Naturwissenschaften 269, 2006, ISBN 3-8171-3296-4. (includes an extensive list of Bunsen's students)
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bunsen, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 31 March 1811 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Göttingen, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | 16 August 1899 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Heidelberg, Germany |
