English chemist · 1872–1961
Morris Travers
Morris Travers was William Ramsay’s young partner in the remarkable summer of 1898, when the two discovered neon, krypton and xenon in a matter of weeks.
- Elements credited
- 3
- Discoveries
- 1898
- Co-discoverers
- 1
- Where
- England
Discovery timeline
1898 · England
Neon is an inert noble gas that glows reddish-orange in an electric discharge. It is rare on Earth but the fifth most abundant element in the cosmos.
1898 · England
Krypton is a colourless, odourless noble gas found in trace amounts in air. It glows whitish when electrified.
1898 · England
Xenon is a heavy, rare noble gas. In 1962 it became the first noble gas shown to form a chemical compound.
The discoveries
Travers built much of the apparatus for liquefying air and separating its fractions by careful evaporation, which was cutting-edge technology at the time. On 30 May 1898 the pair saw the bright lines of krypton in the residue left after liquid air boiled away. Neon followed in June from the most volatile part of argon, and xenon in July from a heavy fraction of krypton.
Neon’s spectrum was so striking that Travers later wrote that the blaze of crimson light told its own story. That same glow powers neon signs today.
Life and career
Travers was born in London and studied at University College London under Ramsay. After the noble gas work he became professor at University College, Bristol.
In 1906 he moved to Bangalore as the first director of the Indian Institute of Science, which he helped plan. He later worked on glass manufacture and industrial fuel technology in Britain, and wrote a biography of Ramsay.
Also known for
- First director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- Pioneer of low-temperature gas techniques