Peter Desaga was a German instrument maker at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

who worked with

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

. Collaborating with Bunsen in 1855 on interior facilities for the new chemical laboratory at the university, Desaga perfected an earlier design of the laboratory burner by

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

into the

Bunsen burner A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a kind of ambient air gas burner used as laboratory equipment; it produces a single open gas flame, and is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The gas can be natural gas (which is main ...

. Neither Desaga nor Bunsen patented the design, and many imitations were marketed.Louis Rosenfeld, ''Four Centuries of Clinical Chemistry'', 1999,
n.p.
/ref> The Bunsen burner was essential to the invention of the

spectroscope An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

by Robert Bunsen and

Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German chemist, mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy and the emission of black-body ...

. Peter Desaga's son, Carl Desaga, founded C. Desaga.

Notes

References

* Douglas Allchin writing for SHiPS, University of Minnesota
In the Shadows of Giants - remarks on "the tradition of professional credit".
Retrieved June 6, 2005. * Williams, Kathryn R., A Burning Issue. J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 558–559. * Russell, Colin A., Bunsen without his burner. Phys. Educ. 1999, 34 321-326; *Royal Society of Chemistry: Chemistry World, Oct 2007 Issue. http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2007/October/ClassicKitBunsenBurner.asp Retrieved November 9, 2011. Year of death missing Technicians Year of birth missing {{Germany-engineer-stub