Robert Wilhelm Bunsen
Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm (1811-1899), a German chemist and inventor. He is credited with inventing the Bunsen burner, a gas burner used in scientific laboratories. He and Gustav R. Kirchhoff did pioneer work with spectrum analysis, inventing the spectroscope to detect chemicals by the colors they give off when burning. Using this instrument, the two scientists discovered the elements cesium (1860) and rubidium (1861).
Bunsen improved the efficiency of blast furnaces after observing gases escaping from them and devising a method of gas analysis. His other inventions include the ice calorimeter, a filter pump, a zinc-carbon electric cell, and the magnesium light. With Sir Henry Roscoe he did important work in the field of photochemistry.
Bunsen was born in Gottingen. He received his doctorate from Gottingen University in 1830 and spent the rest of his life teaching and doing research at German universities.