Daniel Rutherford: The Isolation of Nitrogen - Personal Statement Example

Daniel Rutherford: The Isolation of Nitrogen It has been said that scientific research is the pursuit of the fundamental laws that govern the universe. These basic principles are not discovered independently but are the result of a multitude of experiments by scores of scientists that may span centuries. Daniel Rutherford was first and foremost a research scientist. Born in 1849, he became a student at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland where he did some of his most important work. When the Scottish chemist died in 1819, he had contributed to one of the 19th century's most exciting scientific discoveries.

Daniel Rutherford, from Holl, 1804 It was a natural academic progression to attend the University of Edinburgh where his father was a professor of medicine. Daniel would also graduate with a degree in medicine, but it was the experiments he conducted as a student that helped unlock the mysteries of combustion, life, and the composition of 'vital air' ("Daniel Rutherford"). At the time, it was known that a quantity of air that had been subjected to combustion would no longer support life.

He is the uncle of Sir Walter Scott and is additionally credited with improving the thermometer ("Lectures and Papers"). Daniel Rutherford is an inspiration to me and to anyone who works in the field of science. His ability to use the scientific skills of reasoning and deduction is still the foundation for scientific investigation. His experiments with mice and 'vital air' unlocked the secrets of oxygen that he described in 1778 ("Lectures and Papers"). His experience is an illustration that science is a group of ideas that come together to discover the basic principles of our world.

He is an example that there is no such thing as unnecessary knowledge. The single clue that the scientist uncovers today may well be the keys that unlock the secrets of the universe tomorrow.