William Ramsay

Lore & Background

Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist of average height and build, with a full beard and a thoughtful, serious expression typical of late Victorian-era academics. His range of scientific inquiry spanned from organic chemistry to the discovery of an entirely new family of elements. He was born in Glasgow, the son of a civil engineer, and educated at the Glasgow Academy before apprenticing with a shipbuilder. He instead pursued chemistry at the University of Glasgow, later earning his doctorate in Germany. He held professorships at University College, Bristol, and later at University College London, where his most famous work occurred. His defining characteristic was his meticulous experimental skill, which he developed through early studies on nitrogen oxides and the synthesis of pyridine. This expertise led him to collaborate with Lord Rayleigh on a discrepancy in nitrogen density, resulting in the isolation of argon, a chemically inert gas. Ramsay then systematically investigated other atmospheric gases, discovering neon, krypton, and xenon with Morris Travers. He also isolated helium, previously observed only in the sun's spectrum, and later characterized radon. These discoveries established the noble gas group on the periodic table. He was knighted, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904, and served as president of the British Association. He lived in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire, and died of nasal cancer at age 63.

Reader's Guide

Sir William Ramsay's most celebrated discoveries occurred after he succeeded Alexander Williamson as chair of Chemistry at University College London in 1887. His collaboration with Lord Rayleigh began in 1894 following a lecture where Rayleigh noted a discrepancy between the density of chemically synthesized nitrogen and nitrogen isolated from air. Ramsay subsequently isolated a new, heavy, chemically unreactive component of air, which he named argon from the Greek word for "lazy." This discovery led Ramsay to systematically investigate other atmospheric gases. Working with Morris Travers, he went on to discover neon, krypton, and xenon. He also isolated helium, which had previously only been observed in the solar spectrum and was unknown on Earth. In 1910 he isolated and characterized radon. These discoveries established an entirely new group of elements on the periodic table. Ramsay's earlier work included the first synthesis of a heteroaromatic compound, pyridine, in 1876. During 1893–1902, he collaborated with chemist Emily Aston on mineral analysis and atomic weight determination, including studies of molecular surface energies in liquid mixtures. His standing led him to advise the Indian Institute of Science, recommending Bangalore as its location. Ramsay was knighted in 1902 and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for his discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air. He served as president of the British Association in 1911–1912.

Did You Know?

• He named the gas argon from the Greek word meaning 'lazy'.
• He was a nephew of the geologist Sir Andrew Ramsay.