Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (1811–1899), Inspired 19th -Century Chemist

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811–1899) was one of the most illustrious chemists of the 19th century. He was a true pioneer in inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, gasometry, spectroscopy, and photochemistry; the discoverer of two elements; and an illustrious teacher at the Universitt Heidelberg where he became a legend. Nevertheless, generations of high school alumni, students, and graduates in chemistry spontaneously associate his name only with the eponymous device, the Bunsen burner. This connection is especially inappropriate because Bunsen himself did not invent the famous burner. This article discusses Bunsen’s life and research, including his work on photochemistry with English scientist Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe (1833–1915) and on spectroscopy with German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff (1824–1897), with whom he discovered two alkali metalsrubidium and cesium— in 1860.