Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon. After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1904, announced November 8, 1904. Sir William Ramsay, “in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system”. Sir William Ramsay: born 1852, Glasgow, Scotland. Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).