Editing William Ramsay

{{Short description|Scottish chemist (1852–1916)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = [[Sir]]
| name              = William Ramsay
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|FRS|FRSE|size=100%}}
| image             = William Ramsay.jpg
| caption           = Ramsay in 1904
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1852|10|2|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1916|7|23|1852|10|2|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[High Wycombe]], England
| alma_mater        = University of Glasgow  (1866–69)<br>[[Anderson's University]], now [[University of Strathclyde]] Glasgow (1869)<ref name="Thorburn Burns">{{cite journal|last=Thorburn Burns|first=D.|year=2011|title=Robert Rattray Tatlock (1837–1934), Public Analyst for Glasgow|journal=Journal of the Association of Public Analysts|volume=39|pages=38–43|url=http://www.apajournal.org.uk/Volume_38-39/JAPA_Vol_39_pg_38-43/2011_0038-0043.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303195710/http://www.apajournal.org.uk/Volume_38-39/JAPA_Vol_39_pg_38-43/2011_0038-0043.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-03 |url-status=live|access-date=25 November 2011}}</ref><br>[[University of Tübingen]] (PhD 1873)
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig]]
| doctoral_students = Edward Charles Cyril Baly<br>[[James Johnston Dobbie]]<br>[[Jaroslav Heyrovský]]
| known_for         = Discovering [[noble gases]]<br>[[Ramsay grease]]
| field             = [[Chemistry]]
| work_institution  = [[University of Glasgow]] (1874–80)<br>[[University College, Bristol]] (1880–87)<br>[[University College London]] (1887–1913)
| prizes            = [[Leconte Prize]] <small>(1895)</small><br>[[Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science]] <small>(1895)</small><br>[[Davy Medal]] {{small|(1895)}}<br>[[Longstaff Prize]] {{small|(1897)}}<br>[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] {{small|(1904)}}<br>[[Matteucci Medal]] <small>(1907)</small><br>[[Elliott Cresson Medal]] {{small|(1913)}}
}}

'''Sir William Ramsay''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|FRS|FRSE}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|æ|m|z|i}}; 2 October 1852&nbsp;– 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the [[noble gases]] and 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 his collaborator, [[John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh]], who received the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] that same year for their discovery of [[argon]]. After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, [[helium]], [[neon]], [[krypton]], and [[xenon]] led to the development of a new section of the [[periodic table]].<ref name="Wood">{{cite journal|last=Wood|first=Margaret E.|title=A Tale of Two Knights|journal=Chemical Heritage Magazine |date=2010|volume=28|issue=1|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/a-tale-of-two-knights|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref>

==Early years==
Ramsay was born at 2 Clifton Street<ref name="auto">Glasgow Post Office Directory 1852</ref> in [[Glasgow]] on 2 October 1852, the son of civil engineer and surveyor, William C. Ramsay, and his wife, Catherine Robertson.<ref name="Waterston2">{{cite book|last1=Waterston|first1=Charles D|last2=Macmillan Shearer|first2=A|title=Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index|url=http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=25 November 2011|volume=II|date=July 2006|publisher=[[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]]|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004113303/http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf|archive-date=4 October 2006}}</ref> The family lived at 2 Clifton Street in the city centre, a three-storey and basement Georgian townhouse.<ref name="auto"/> The family moved to 1 Oakvale Place in the [[Hillhead]] district in his youth.<ref>Glasgow Post Office Directory 1860</ref> He was a nephew of the [[geologist]] [[Andrew Ramsay (geologist)|Sir Andrew Ramsay]].

He was educated at [[Glasgow Academy]] and then apprenticed to Robert Napier, a shipbuilder in [[Govan]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116140212/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-16 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, he instead decided to study Chemistry at the [[University of Glasgow]], matriculating in 1866 and graduating in 1869. He then undertook practical training with the chemist [[Thomas Anderson (chemist)|Thomas Anderson]] and then went to study in Germany at the [[University of Tübingen]] with [[Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig]] where his doctoral thesis was entitled ''Investigations in the [[Toluene|Toluic]] and [[mononitrotoluene|Nitrotoluic]] Acids''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i736QAAACAAJ|title=Investigations on the Toluic, and Nitrotoluic Acids|last=Ramsay|first=William|date=1872|publisher=Print. by Fues|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sir William Ramsay Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1904/ramsay/biographical/ |website=The Nobel Prize |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |access-date=2 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="GB 103 RAMSAY">{{cite web |title=Ramsay Papers |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/1b85ca7d-4b61-327f-81a3-47b673dcdbb9 |website=Jisc Archive Hub |publisher=University College London Archives |access-date=2 October 2019}}</ref>

Ramsay went back to Glasgow as Anderson's assistant at [[University of Strathclyde|Anderson College]]. He was appointed as Professor of Chemistry at the [[University College, Bristol|University College of Bristol]] in 1879 and married Margaret Buchanan in 1881. In the same year he became the Principal of University College, Bristol, and somehow managed to combine that with active research both in [[organic chemistry]] and on gases.

==Career==
[[File:William Ramsay's Nobel Prize.jpg|thumb|William Ramsay's Nobel Prize certificate]]
[[File:WilliamRamsay BluePlaque.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Blue plaque at 12 [[Arundel Gardens]] commemorating the work of William Ramsay]]

William Ramsay formed [[pyridine]] in 1876 from [[acetylene]] and [[hydrogen cyanide]] in an iron-tube furnace in what was the first synthesis of a [[Heterocyclic compound|heteroaromatic compound]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ramsay |first1=William |title=On picoline and its derivatives |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1876 |volume=2 |pages=269–281 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112098008771;view=1up;seq=283 |series=5th series |issue=11 |doi=10.1080/14786447608639105}}</ref>
In 1887, he succeeded [[Alexander William Williamson|Alexander Williamson]] as the chair of Chemistry at [[University College London]] (UCL). It was here at UCL that his most celebrated discoveries were made. As early as 1885–1890, he published several notable papers on the [[oxide]]s of [[nitrogen]], developing the skills that he needed for his subsequent work. 
On the evening of 19 April 1894, Ramsay attended a lecture given by [[Lord Rayleigh]]. Rayleigh had noticed a discrepancy between the density of nitrogen made by [[chemical synthesis]] and nitrogen isolated from the air by removal of the other known components. After a short conversation, he and Ramsay decided to investigate this. In August Ramsay told Rayleigh he had isolated a new, heavy component of air, which did not appear to have any [[Reactivity (chemistry)|chemical reactivity]]. He named this inert gas "[[argon]]", from the Greek word meaning "lazy".<ref name="Wood"/> In the following years, working with [[Morris Travers]], he discovered [[neon]], [[krypton]], and [[xenon]]. He also isolated [[helium]], which had only been observed in the [[Sun#Observation and ugly effects|spectrum]] of the sun, and had not previously been found on earth. In 1910 he isolated and characterised [[radon]].<ref>{{cite journal| title = La densité de l'emanation du radium| author = W. Ramsay and R. W. Gray| journal =  C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris| volume = 151| pages = 126–128| year = 1910| url = http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k31042/f126.table }}</ref>

During 1893–1902, Ramsay collaborated with [[Emily Aston]], a British chemist, in experiments on mineral analysis and atomic weight determination. Their work included publications on the molecular surface energies of mixtures of non-associating liquids.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800–1900: A survey of their contributions to research.|last=Creese|first=M. R. S.|publisher=Scarecrow|year=1998|location=Lanham, MD|pages=265}}</ref>

Ramsay was elected an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=William+Ramsay&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB) in the [[1902 Coronation Honours]] list published on 26 June 1902,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27453 |date=11 July 1902 |page=4441}}</ref> and invested as such by King [[Edward VII]] at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 24 October 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=25 October 1902 |page=8 |issue=36908}}</ref>

In 1904, Ramsay received the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].
That same year, he was elected an International Member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Ramsay |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001269.html |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> Ramsay's standing among scientists led him to become an adviser to the [[Indian Institute of Science]]. He suggested [[Bangalore]] as the location for the institute.

Ramsay endorsed the Industrial and Engineering Trust Ltd., a company that claimed it could extract [[gold]] from [[seawater]], in 1905. It bought property on the English coast to begin its secret process. The company never produced any gold.

Ramsay was the president of the [[British Science Association|British Association]] in 1911–1912.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha12scie|title=Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science|date=2 October 1912|publisher=London : John Murray|website=Archive.org|access-date=2 October 2019}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1881, Ramsay was married to Margaret Johnstone Marshall (née Buchanan), daughter of George Stevenson Buchanan. They had a daughter, Catherine Elizabeth (Elska) and a son, William George, who died at 40.

Ramsay lived in [[Hazlemere]], [[Buckinghamshire]], until his death. He died in [[High Wycombe]], Buckinghamshire, on 23 July 1916 from [[Nasopharynx cancer|nasal cancer]] at the age of 63 and was buried in Hazlemere [[parish church]].

==Legacy==
A [[blue plaque]] at number 12 [[Arundel Gardens]], [[Notting Hill]], commemorates his life and work.

The [[Sir William Ramsay School]] in Hazlemere and [[Ramsay grease]] are named after him.

There is a memorial to him by [[Charles Leonard Hartwell|Charles Hartwell]] in the north aisle of the choir at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p63: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966</ref>

In 1923, [[University College London]] named its new Chemical Engineering department and seat after Ramsay, which had been funded by the Ramsay Memorial Fund.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemical-engineering/about/history|title='' History – UCL Chemical Engineering has a long and distinguished history as a world-leading research department – the first of its kind in the UK. Find out more about some key figures and dates in our history''|website=UCL|date=19 July 2018|access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> One of Ramsay's former graduates, [[H. E. Watson]] was the third Ramsay professor of chemical engineering.

On 2 October 2019, [[Google]] celebrated his 167th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/sir-william-ramsays-167th-birthday/|title=Sir William Ramsay's 167th Birthday|website=Google|date=2 October 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Clan Ramsay]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Secondary sources
*{{cite book | author= Morris Travers | title=The Life of Sir William Ramsay | publisher=Arnold | location=London | year=1956 | isbn =978-0-7131-2164-3| author-link=Morris Travers }}
*{{cite journal | title=Argon and the Non-Inert Pair: Rayleigh and Ramsay | author=John Meurig Thomas | journal=[[Angewandte Chemie International Edition]] | volume=43 | issue=47 | pages=6418–6424 | year=2004 | doi=10.1002/anie.200461824 | pmid=15578783 }}
*{{cite journal | title=Argon, a New Constituent of the Atmosphere. | author=[[Lord Rayleigh]]; William Ramsay | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London | volume=57 | issue=1 | pages=265–287 | year=1894–1895 | doi=10.1098/rspl.1894.0149 | jstor=115394| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv/download/pdf?id=uc1.e0000431916;orient=0;size=100;seq=1;attachment=0 | doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal | title=Sir William Ramsay, K. C. B. | author=Theodore W. Richards | journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society | volume=56 | issue=1 | pages=iii–viii3 | year=1917 | jstor=983962}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote|William Ramsay}}
{{EB1911 poster|Ramsay, Sir William}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 12 December 1904 ''The Rare Gases of the Atmosphere'' from Nobelprize.org website
* {{Gutenberg | no=52778 | title=The Gases of the Atmosphere}}
* {{Internet Archive|id=atmospheregas00ramsrich|name=The Gases of the Atmosphere}}
* [http://www.swr.bucks.sch.uk/ Sir William Ramsay School]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111041700/http://www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/493_80.html |date=11 January 2006 |title=Ramsay biography }}
* [http://www.swr.bucks.sch.uk/ Eponymous school]
* [http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/Web_Genealogy/Info/ramsayw.pdf Web genealogy article on Ramsay]
* [http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/Web_Genealogy/r-list.php Chemical genealogy]
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/science/ramsay.html victorianweb biography ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100504073746/http://chemeducator.org/sbibs/s0009006/spapers/960378gk.htm chemeducator biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111005091941/http://www.scientificamericanpast.com/Scientific%20American%201900%20to%201909/4/lg/sci7231904.htm 7/23/1904;This Photograph of Sir William Ramsay Was Taken in His Laboratory Specially for the Scientific American]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Sir William Ramsay}}
* {{Librivox author}}

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1904 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, William}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish chemists]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish chemists]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:People from Hillhead]]
[[Category:People educated at the Glasgow Academy]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:University of Tübingen alumni]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Strathclyde]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Bristol]]
[[Category:Academics of University College London]]
[[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements]]
[[Category:Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:People from Notting Hill]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Scottish knights]]
[[Category:Scottish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:British Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Noble gases]]
[[Category:Academics of University College Bristol]]
[[Category:Industrial gases]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Matteucci Medal]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Strathclyde]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]