William Ramsay - the man, the myth and the bicycle

Every department likes to have a mascot or Patron Saint who has Done Great Things. In Chemistry, it is Sir William Ramsay who discovered the noble or inert gases. Who was he, how did he do it, and why should we care? This talk introduces William Ramsay, the man, and the experimental context to his work, digging a little into the development of the chemical apparatus – from vacuum pumps to manometers and even gas burners –  that made it possible, much of it blown with his own hands and those of his students. He was nothing if not an early adopter of the latest tech, not least in his choice of vehicle.