BURNED UP!

  SUNDAY, MARCH 31ST., 2019
                BURNED UP!

    Before we bid farewell to March let's
take just a moment to remember its last
"holiday."  It's Bunsen Burner Day!

  We mark the birthday of 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 wonder if you could cook a steak

on one of them?

   Hope you'll celebrate safely and that

all your NEWS is good!