Sir William Ramsay
Scottish chemist
October 2, 1852 - July 23, 1916

Sir William Ramsay was born to Scotch parents on October 2, 1852. He was fond of nature, music and books as a child, and developed a passion for learning new languages. He experimented with chemistry at a young age, working in his bedroom or at a friend's house.

Ramsay studied at Heidelberg under Bunsen and at Tübingen under Fittig. At the age of twenty-eight he was appointed Principal of the College at University College, Bristol.

Ramsay is considered the discoverer of the rare gases. With Lord Rayleigh he found argon (1894), and collaborated with M.W. Travers in the discovery of krypton (1898), neon (1898) and xenon (1898). After radon had been discovered, he and W. Gray determined the density of the gas and proved it to be the heaviest member of the rare gas group. It was in his laboratory that it was first discovered that helium was a product of the radioactive decomposition of radium. This was the first time that the decomposition of an element had been demonstrated. He received the Nobel Prize in 1904.