In October 1859, German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff announced the results of his investigations with chemist Robert Bunsen on the dark lines that interrupt the otherwise continuous solar spectrum.

In October 1859, German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff an no.nced the results of his investigations with chemist Robert Bunsen on the vestige lines that interrupt the otherwise continuous solar spectrum (1). These lines had confound practitioners and theorists as well since they were first observed in 1814 by German optician Josef von Fraunhofer (2). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sir William Huggins (1824-1910) CREDIT: CORBIS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now it seemed that Bunsen and Kirchhoff had at long last con steadfastlyed what others had long suspected, namely, that an individual surface induces its own peculiar(prenominal) pattern of bright spectral lines when it is burned. Furthermore, Kirchhoff take a firm stand that Fraunhofers lines exist in consequence of the presence, in the light automated teller of the sun, of those substances which in the spectrum of a flame produce bright lines at the same place. News of his claim dole out quickly throughout the scientific world. In England, Bunsens former student, heat content Enfield Roscoe, wrote to the secretary of the Royal Society, George Stokes (3): encounter you seen in the last no. of the Annales ... a short find about Kirchoffs [sic] discovery...? Soon, Roscoe was offering globe lectures on the subject to kindle scientists and laymen alike.

After one much(prenominal) presentation to the Chemical Society, moderator rabbit warren De La herb of grace remarked (4) [I]f we were to go to the sun, and to bring away nigh portions of it and analyze them in ou! r laboratories, we could not examine them more accurately than we can by this new mode of spectrum analytic thinking.... What really aflame De La Rue, a stationer known for his photographs of the sun and moon, was the probable this method of analysis portended for astronomy. After all, French philosopher Auguste Comte in 1835 had all the way defined the domain of questions considered legitimate for Earth-bound observers to ask about the denizens of the ethereal realm. If you requisite to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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