I love his work, his creations. I’ve been lucky enough to see several of Van Gogh’s paintings in person. At those various museums, if I am able to get close enough, I like to see his layers upon layers of paint, moving across the canvas in all their intensity. Like a little storm happening in the midst of an iris, or a starry night. He is one of my favorite artists. Maybe the most. Today is his birthday, March 30, 1853. Only to stay with us for 37 short years.
And I would write about him today, at length. But I’ve done so before, on many occasions.
But instead, I think it is time I talked about Robert Bunsen. If the name sounds familiar, you’ve had Chemistry 101 (or more) and fiddle with that little round knob on the side of a bunsen burner. Yes, he’s the guy. His birthday is today too. March 30, 1811.
I was a chemistry major, for a time. But I started my love of that science in high school. While in the lab, we would find various and unique uses for that Bunsen burner. They did a fine job of heating up bologna sandwiches with American cheese. Toasty. Melty. Don’t try to heat Fritos though. Epic fail.
I bet you Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen never wasted any time with toasting sandwiches. But I’ll tell you this much. His scientific achievements go way beyond his invention of the Bunsen burner.
For one thing, he was lickety-split smart. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry by the time he was 19. From there, he started teaching and researching at Göttingen University. Then for many years at Heidelberg University. He was German if you hadn’t noticed.
You know the old Cary Grant film, Arsenic and Old Lace? Those two old aunts would have been no match for Bunsen. In 1934 he published his discovery of the antidote to arsenic poisoning. Good thing to know, don’t you think? Especially since we are all under “shelter at home orders” with our “loved ones.”
The arsenic thing ended up coming in handy for Bunsen himself. Just nine years after his discovery, Bunsen suffered severe arsenic poisoning while studying an arsenic compound. Volatile arsenic! It exploded and Bunsen lost the use of an eye. The bright side is that his earlier discovery saved his life.
Bunsen was one of those guys who was all over the place in the world of science. Some scientists are all about one thing, like Madame Curie and her radioactivity. Or Darwin and his evolution. But not our man Bunsen. He branched out.
He went on to invent the zinc-carbon battery in 1841. Another big marker is that he encouraged coal plants to be more efficient by recycling their gases, their emissions. And then, of course, that burner. Bunsen published the design for that in 1857.
He did a lot of other things too, like discovering two new elements; cesium in 1860, and rubidium in 1861. Bunsen even invented flash photography in 1864. He used the light from burning magnesium.
The best thing about Robert Bunsen was that people liked him. A truly good guy. He was one of the most admired scientists of his time. Bunsen was a master teacher and was quite devoted to his students. They were reportedly devoted to him, fond of him. He always acted like “a perfect gentleman” among his peers. As a matter of principle, he never took out a patent. And. He never married.
Robert Bunsen died in Heidelberg at the age of 88. Another great person who helped the rest of us, on this earth. Where we are. Trying not to eat arsenic, and not to use bunsen burners irrationally.
I guess we’re all doing our part, if you look at it that way.
So.
Rock on my friend, rock on. Let your internal flames burn brightly, whatever that looks like for you. Bunsen-style.
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“Doing what you believe in is passion. Doing it the best you know how is contribution.”
― Doug Fish
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“Every human being has the potential for mastery. Every soul deeply yearns to contribute.”
― Amy McTear
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“Every thought, every word, and every action that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution.”
― Aung San Suu Kyi
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