Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (30 March 1811^[N1] – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist

Chemist

A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium

Caesium

Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...

 (in 1860) and rubidium

Rubidium

Rubidium is a chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. Rubidium is a soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali metal group. Its atomic mass is 85.4678. Elemental rubidium is highly reactive, with properties similar to those of other elements in group 1, such as very rapid...

 (in 1861) with Gustav Kirchhoff

Gustav Kirchhoff

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects...

. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry

Photochemistry

Photochemistry, a sub-discipline of chemistry, is the study of chemical reactions that proceed with the absorption of light by atoms or molecules.. Everyday examples include photosynthesis, the degradation of plastics and the formation of vitamin D with sunlight.-Principles:Light is a type of...

, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic chemistry. With his laboratory assistant, Peter Desaga

Peter Desaga

Peter Desaga was an instrument maker at the University of Heidelberg who worked with Robert Wilhelm Bunsen. In 1855, Desaga perfected an earlier design of the laboratory burner by Michael Faraday into the Bunsen burner. The Desaga family held the right to market the burner for generations, as part...

, he developed the Bunsen burner

Bunsen burner

A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...

, an improvement on the laboratory burners then in use.