1852-1916

British Chemist

The most eminent British chemist of the late nineteenth century, William Ramsay won the 1904 Nobel Prize for his discovery of the socalled "noble" gases. A brilliant experimentalist rather than a theorist, and one who did his best work in collaboration with others, his research helped to establish the new discipline of physical chemistry in Britain. A champion of educational reform, an accomplished linguist, poet, and athlete who traveled widely, and deeply religious, his generous nature, humility, and lively sense of humor made him a beloved figure.

Of Scottish descent, Ramsay was the only child of devout Calvinists, and descended from three generations of workers in the dyeing industry on his father's side. In 1869 he first began chemical studies at university in Glasgow, going to Tübingen in Germany in 1870 to study organic chemistry and obtaining his doctorate there in 1872. He then returned to...