Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm (1811-1899), was a German chemist. He became famous for his work with Gustav Kirchhoff (1824-1887) in using the spectrometer to identify chemical elements (see Spectrometer ). In the 1850’s, he invented a gas burner, still known as the Bunsen burner, which provides an intensely hot flame for laboratory use. Bunsen also invented several types of electric cells and apparatus used in experiments on the properties of gases. He contributed to the early development of organic chemistry.
Bunsen was born on March 31, 1811, in Göttingen, Germany. He studied at the universities of Göttingen, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. He was professor of chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and became famous as a great teacher. Bunsen died on Aug. 16, 1899.
