Robert Bunsen made significant contributions to chemistry, geology, and spectrography. He discovered the use of iron oxide hydrate as an antidote for arsenic poisoning and invented the Bunsen-Kirchoff spectroscope, leading to the discovery of new elements. He also developed a technique to recycle heat in blast furnaces and improved batteries with a carbon electrode. The Bunsen burner was named after him, but he did not design it. He died in 1899, loved and admired by many colleagues.
Robert Bunsen is best known for one of his minor contributions to science, the Bunsen burner, although his working life has yielded many more important, albeit less publicized, contributions. Born Robert Wilhelm Bunsen on March 31, 1811 in Göttingen, Germany, he was a modest and unassuming man of incredible intelligence. His contributions span several scientific disciplines, including chemistry, organic chemistry, geology, photochemical studies, and spectrography.
Bunsen began his studies in chemistry and received his doctorate at the age of 19 in Germany. After graduating, he took a job as a lecturer and traveled throughout Europe to study advances in manufacturing, geology and chemistry. One of his first breakthroughs was in organic/physiological chemistry when he discovered the use of iron oxide hydrate as an antidote for arsenic poisoning. In 1838 he began teaching at the University of Marlsburg, where he studied cacodyl, an arsenic compound. These experiments proved to be very dangerous and life-threatening, and the substance almost poisoned Bunsen, and an explosion in his laboratory took his vision out of one eye.
Subsequently, Robert Bunsen turned his interests to blast furnaces in Germany and Great Britain. He noticed that the kilns lost significant heat in the process, 50 to 80%. He teamed up with fellow scientist, Lyon Playfair, and together they devised a technique to recycle heat, making them more efficient. He also invented a carbon electrode to improve the batteries in use at the time.
Although Bunsen was very successful in his work with organic chemistry, he found that he preferred the field of geology. He has spent time analyzing the volcanic rock and gases in Iceland and has tested the theories currently in use about geysers.
Where the scientist would have the greatest impact in the scientific world was in his photochemical studies. While studying spectroscopy, the study of rays in light, he invented the Bunsen-Kirchoff spectroscope. Eventually he discovered two new elements, cesium and rubidium. Thanks to his spectroscope, other scientists subsequently discovered other new elements.
As for his more famous namesake, the Bunsen burner, it was actually simply his concept, and he didn’t actually design it. Peter Desaga took Bunsen’s concept – premixing gas and air before burning them to give the burner a hotter, non-luminous flame – and created the device that bears his name.
Robert Bunsen was inducted into the Chemical Society of London in 1842 and into the Academies des Sciences in 1853. During his lifetime, he would receive many more honors and honors. After retiring at the age of 78, Bunsen returned to the study of geology, a field which gave him much pleasure. He died on August 16, 1899, unmarried, but loved and admired by many colleagues.
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