Rembering Bobby Bunsen

  OK Class! Put on your lab coat and safety
glasses and get ready to celebrate!
  It's March 31st. It's Bunsen Burner Day!
  And today we mark the birthday of its
inventor, German chemist Robert Wilhelm
Eberhard von Bunsen!
   My Chemistry set didn't come with a
Bunsen Burner when I was a kid. I had to
use a candle to heat the chemicals I had
mixed together down in the basement.
   I heated it for about 15 minutes before
it blew up and wrecked my set. Fortunately
I didn't burn down the house!
   Years later I found myself in a High
School Chemistry Class.
   Our teacher, Mr. Scarcella, had a Bunsen
Burner to heat the test tube he was using
for the day's experiment.
   I was surprised when it, like mine, blew
up! But it only took him about 30 seconds!
  For years there was a small piece of
glass embedded in the ceiling of that
classroom. I often wondered if the students
that followed  noticed it or wondered
how it got there.
   I learned a lot from that lesson.
   First, Bunsen Burners can create
explosions far faster than candles.
   Second, I was not meant to be a Chemist!
   I'm sure, however, that many of today's
modern scientific advancements were
born in a basement or classroom somewhere
with the aid of a Bunsen Burner.
   I kind of wish I had one yesterday. It was
too rainy to toast marshmallows over a camp
fire!
   Hope you'll celebrate safely and that all
your NEWS is good!