August beer

32 Spectroscopy 21(10)

October 2006

w w w. s p e c t r o s c o p y o n l i n e . c o m

A Timeline of Atomic Spectroscopy
This timeline provides a short history of the experimental and theoretical development of atomic spectroscopy for elemental spectrochemical analysis. Included are the instrumental techniques of optical emission (flame, arc/spark, inductively coupled plasma, glow-discharge, and laser-ablation), atomic absorption, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. An attempt has been made to bring together the history of these apparently disparate spectrometric techniques: It’s all about electron transitions, whether outershell (atomic absorption and optical emission) or inner-shell (X-ray fluorescence).
Volker Thomsen

W

hile perhaps the most extensive such timeline to date, it is surely not complete. Sources for further information have been provided.

1786: American astronomer and instrument maker David Rittenhouse (1732–1796) produces the first primitive diffraction grating with parallel hairs laid across two screws. 1802: English scientist William Hyde Wollaston (1766–1828) is the first to observe dark lines in the spectrum of the sun. 1814: The German optician Joseph von Frauenhofer (1787–1826) invents the transmission diffraction grating and makes a detailed study of the dark lines in the solar spectrum. 1826: Scotsman William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) observes that different salts produce colors when placed in a flame. 1851: M.A. Masson produces the first spark-emission spectroscope. 1852: German scientist August Beer (1825–1863) publishes a paper showing that the amount of light absorbed was proportional to the amount of solute in aqueous solutions. 1859: The German physicist Gustav Robert Kirchoff (1824–1887) and chemist Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen (1811–1899) (Figure 3) discover that spectral lines are unique to each element. 1860–1861: Kirchoff and Bunsen discover the elements cesium and rubidium using their new technique