At the beginning of the 19th century, scientists around the world began to study light and colors. At first, we didn't know much about colors and what made certain shades appear. It was not until 1859 that two German scientists laid the foundation for the study of spectroscopy and colors (Historical Introduction to Spectroscopy). Robert Wilhelm Bunsen developed a fascination with light when he first observed that certain colors were emitted when chemicals were burned under his invention of the flame lamp, the Bunsen burner (Scratch). Why did some chemicals create a bright yellow flame, while other chemicals created a deep red colored flame? In 1854, he joined forces with German scientist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff to try to find an explanation for this phenomenon (Scratch). Kirchoff suggested taking the light from the flame and projecting it through a prism. Together they discovered that the prism would separate the light into a spectrum of different colors (spectroscopy). Using the Bunsen flame and a prism, the two scientists were able to create the spectroscope (Scratch). In 1859, Bunsen and Kirchoff made an important discovery which would revolutionize the study of spectroscopy and the elements (Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff). They noticed that each element had its own color signature. With this information, scientists could now find new elements. Before this time, the first 50 elements were discovered by “electrolysis” or “were products of chemical reactions” (Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff). With the spectroscope, if a chemical displays a new set of spectral lines never seen before, the chemical was composed of new, undiscovered elements. This created a new race to discover new elements. A year later, Bunsen and...... middle of paper ......arths/Historical introduction to spectroscopy. (nd). Australian National Telescope Facility. Retrieved May 21, 2014 from http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/spectro_history.htmlRobert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff. (nd). Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved May 20, 2014 from http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/the-path-to-the-periodic-table/bunsen-and-kirchhoff.aspxScratch, L. (nd). Robert Bunsen. Chemistry explained. Accessed May 21, 2014 from http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Bo-Ce/Bunsen-Robert.html#bSpectroscopy. (nd). Astronomy Glossary Zoom. Retrieved May 21, 2014 from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/spectroscopy.shtmlThe Element Rubidium. (nd). It's elementary. Accessed May 21, 2014 from http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele037.html