William Ramsay

Sir William Ramsay KCB FRS FRSE (/ˈræmzi/; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist. Ramsay discovered the noble gases. He also helped discover several elements that are on our periodic table today. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" (along with Lord Rayleigh).

Sir William Ramsay KCB FRS FRSE
Ramsay in 1904
Born	(1852-10-02)2 October 1852 Glasgow, Scotland
Died	23 July 1916(1916-07-23) (aged 63) High Wycombe, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Glasgow (1866–69) Anderson's University, now University of Strathclyde Glasgow (1869)[1] University of Tübingen (PhD 1873)
Known for	Discovering noble gases Ramsay grease
Awards	Leconte Prize (1895) Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science (1895) Davy Medal (1895) Longstaff Prize (1897) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1904) Matteucci Medal (1907) Elliott Cresson Medal (1913)
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	University of Glasgow (1874–80) University College, Bristol (1880–87) University College London (1887–1913)
Doctoral advisor	Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig
Doctoral students	Edward Charles Cyril Baly James Johnston Dobbie Jaroslav Heyrovský

Between 1894 and 1898, he discovered five new elements.^[2] These were the noble gases, helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon.^[2] Following these discoveries, Ramsay helped create the noble gases as a new group in the periodic table.^[3]

Early life

Ramsay working in his lab, c. 1905

Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2 October 1852.^[4] He was a nephew of the geologist Sir Andrew Ramsay. His father, William, Sr., was a civil engineer. His mother was Catherine Robertson. He studied at Glasgow Academy, at the University of Glasgow and at University of Tübingen in Germany.

Ramsay went back to Glasgow as an assistant at the Anderson College. He found a job as Professor of chemistry at the University College of Bristol in 1879.

Career

On the evening of 19 April 1894 Ramsay was at a lecture given by Lord Rayleigh. Rayleigh had noticed a difference between the density of nitrogen made by chemical synthesis and nitrogen isolated from the air by removal of the other known components. He named the gas responsible for this difference "argon".^[5]

He was working with Morris Travers, when he discovered neon, krypton, and xenon.^[5] He also isolated helium.^[5] In 1910, he also created and characterized radon.^[6][5] In 1904, Ramsay received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[5]

Personal life

Ramsay was married to Margaret Buchanan in 1881. They had one daughter, Catherine, and one son, William George. William George died when he was 40.

Death

Ramsay lived in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire until his death. He died in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 23 July 1916 from nasal cancer (nose cancer). He died at the age of 63. He was buried in Hazlemere Parish church.

Recognition

The Sir William Ramsay School in Hazlemere is named after him.