Objective: |
|
To state the original periodic law proposed
by Mendeleev. |
|
"Ich
bin Mendelejeff" |
|
Once
there lived and existed a great learned man with a beard almost as long as
God's. And one day the people came to this man and said 'Go to the Lord, and
tell him of our misery.' 'I will go,' said the man. So he caught a great
bubble, and sat down on top of it, and flew up and up until he pierced the
heaven above us. And there he saw God and told him of our misery and God
pardoned our sins and lightened our burdens. Then the great bearded man came
down from the heavens and the people were happy. And for this, the
authorities and the tsar made this man a very great scientist. (16)
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was born in Tobolsk, Siberia, on February 7, 1834
(ns). The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy was the youngest of 14 children (or 11
or 17, depending on the authority) born to Maria Dmitrievna Korniliev and
Ivan Pavlovitch Mendeleev. His father (called Mendeleev because early in life
he dealt in horses, "mjenu djelatj" = to make an exchange(4))
was director of the local gymnasium. Maria Korniliev's family settled in
Tobolsk in the early 1700's and introduced paper- and glass-making to
Siberia.(4) Unfortunately, Ivan died when Dmitri was quite young, leaving his
wife to support the large family. The pension for educators at that time
(1000 rubles) was drastically insufficient, especially for a large family,
which meant that Maria had no other choice but to find work. Maria's family
owned a glass factory in Aremziansk, and they allowed her to take over
managing the company for a modest wage from which she could support the
family. |
|
Dmitri,
being the youngest, appears to have been his mother's favorite child and was
provided as many opportunities as she could afford. From his early years, she
began to save money for Dmitri to attend the university. However, it was not
only his mother who offered him special favors. He spent many hours in the
glass factory his mother operated, learning from the chemist about the
concepts behind glass making and from the glass blower about the art of
making glass. Another influence in Dmitri's life was his sister Olga's
husband, Bessargin. After being banished to Siberia for his political beliefs
as a Russian Decembrist (Dekabrists, a group of literary men who headed a
revolution in 1825(4),), Bessargin occupied himself teaching Dmitri
the science of the day. Mendeleev's early years were guided by these people,
and he was thus raised with three key thoughts: |
|
"Everything
in the world is science," from Bessargin "Everything in the world is art," from Timofei the glass blower. "Everything in the world is love," from Maria his mother. (16) As he grew older, it became apparent that he had exceptional comprehension of complex topics. At the age of 14, he was attending the Gymnasium in Tobolsk and his mother was continuing to plan for his future. In that year, however, a second major family tragedy occurred; the glass factory burned to the ground. The family was devastated; there was no money to rebuild and the only money they had was the money saved for Dmitri to go to the university. Maria was not about to give up her dreams for her son. She knew at this point that Dmitri's only hope to go on to school was to win a scholarship. So in his final years at the gymnasium, Maria pushed Dmitri to improve his grades and prepare for entrance exams. |
|
This was
no easy task, as Dmitri was not a "classical" scholar. He knew at a
very young age that he wanted to study science and saw very little need for
studying topics such as Latin and history. He felt that these were dead
topics and a waste of his time. After much coaxing from his mother and
Bessargin, Mendeleev passed his gymnasium exams and prepared to enter the
university. This disdain of the "classical" education was to color
his later writings on education when, in 1901, he stated: |
|
...We
could live at the present day without a Plato, but a double number of Newtons
is required to discover the secrets of nature, and to bring life into harmony
with the laws of nature. (4) In 1849, with nothing left for the family at
Aremziansk, Maria loaded up the family's belongings and headed for Moscow. At
this point the family included Maria, Dmitri, and Elizabeth (Dmitri's older
sister). In Moscow, they entered a climate of considerable political unrest,
which made the university reluctant to admit anyone from outside of Moscow.
Mendeleev was rejected. Maria did not give up, however, and the family headed
for St. Petersburg. |
|
Again,
they encountered similar turmoil but this time they found a friend of Ivan's
working at the Pedagogical Institute, his father's school. With a little
persuasion, Dmitri was allowed to take the entrance exams, which he passed,
not with honors but well enough to be admitted to the science teacher
training program on a full scholarship. He entered the university in the fall
of 1850. |
|
Maria
died shortly after Dmitri's acceptance at St. Petersburg, followed a few
short months later by Elizabeth; both died from tuberculosis. Mendeleev was
left alone to face his work at the university, but was to later eulogize his
mother in his book on Solutions: |
|
This
investigation is dedicated to the memory of a mother by her youngest
offspring. Conducting a factory she could educate him only by her own work.
She instructed by example, corrected with love, and in order to devote him to
science she left Siberia with him, spending thus her last resources and
strength. When dying she said, 'Refrain from illusions, insist on work and
not on words. Patiently search divine and scientific truth.' She understood
how often dialectical methods deceive, how much there is still to be learned,
and how, with the aid of science without violence, with love but firmness,
all superstition, untruth and error are removed, bringing in their stead the
safety of undiscovered truth, freedom for further development, general
welfare, and inward happiness. Dmitri Mendeleev regards as sacred a mother's
dying words. (19) |
|
Dmitri
fell right into his work at St. Petersburg. His studies progressed rapidly
until his third year. At that point he was struck with an illness that caused
him to be bedridden for the next year. He continued his studies, however,
with professors and fellow students visiting him to give him assignments,
etc. Mendeleev graduated on time and was awarded the medal of excellence for
being first in his class. Dmitri's illness did not improve. His doctor
suggested that he had tuberculosis and that, at most, he had two years to
live providing he moved to a more suitable climate. Mendeleev already had his
life's ambitions in mind and, hoping to extend his life as long as possible,
he moved to Simferopol in the Crimean Peninsula near the Black Sea in 1855 as
chief science master of the gymnasium. He was 21 years old. At this point in
his life he was driven by "the vision of the Russian people whom he knew
he could aid through science." Needless to say, his move to the south
was very beneficial. He progressively regained his strength to the point
where the doctors found no sign of tuberculosis in his system. |
|
In
1856, Mendeleev returned to St. Petersburg and defended his master's thesis:
"Research and Theories on Expansion of Substances due to Heat."
Following his masters program, Dmitri focused his life on his career of
teaching and research. He was essentially a teacher devoted to his work and
to his students; he was next a lover of his country and of his fellow men.
The first led to his books and the periodic table, while the latter gave rise
to his studies of chemical technology and the organization of Russia's
industries, agriculture, transport meteorology and metrology. (17) |
|
In
1859, he was assigned by the Minister of Public Instruction to go abroad to
study and develop scientific and technological innovations. Between 1859 and
1861 he studied the densities of gases with Regnault in Paris and the
workings of the spectroscope with Kirchoff in Heidelberg. He also pursued
studies of capillarity and surface tension that led to his theory of
"absolute boiling point," later known as critical temperature.
While in Heidelberg he made the acquaintance of A.P. Borodin, a chemist who
was to achieve greater reknown as a composer.(9) In 1860 at the Chemical
Congress at Karlsruhe, Mendeleev had the opportunity to hear Cannizzaro
discuss his work on atomic weights. These people greatly influenced the work
which Mendeleev would pursue the rest of his life. |
|
Following
his trip abroad, the Russian chemist returned to his homeland where he
settled down to a life of teaching and research in St. Petersburg. In 1863 he
was named Professor of Chemistry at the Technological Institute and, in 1866,
he became Professor of Chemistry at the University and was made Doctor of
Science for his dissertation "On the Combinations of Water with
Alcohol". As will be seen, his research findings were expansive and
beneficial to the Russian people. Dmitri was always in touch with the
classroom. Much of his lab work, including that on the periodic chart,
occurred in his spare time following his lectures. He truly enjoyed educating
the people, and they, in turned enjoyed his efforts: |
|
...For
me it was a revelation, a beautiful improvisation, a stimulant to the
intellect which left deep traces on my development. (16) Mendeleev not only
taught in the university classrooms but anywhere he travelled. Many excerpts
discuss his journeys by train where he would travel third class with the
mouzhiks (peasants). It was on those journeys that he would share his
findings about agriculture with the peasants over a cup of tea. The
admiration that Mendeleev had for the people of Russia was reciprocated by
the people. On the trains the mouzhiks would all gather round to see and talk
with the man. The university students also adored him. Crowds of students
would fill lecture halls to hear him speak of chemistry. |
|
For
Mendeleev, science was always the most important subject, but in that time
period of unrest, just as today, science could be expanded to the realms of
politics and social inequality. Mendeleev was not afraid to express his views
on these topics: |
|
>
There exists everywhere a medium in things, determined by equilibrium. The
Russian proverb says, 'Too much salt or too little salt is alike an evil.' It
is the same in political and social relations... It is the function of
science to discover the existence of a general reign of order in nature and
to find the causes governing this order. And this refers in equal measure to
the relations of man - social and political - and to the entire universe as a
whole. (16) These profound thoughts of order led him to the discovery of the
periodic law, among other things, but also led to his resignation from the
University on August 17, 1890. Throughout his life he witnessed a country
repressed and in turmoil. As he grew older and more famous, he used his new-found
prestige and power to try to speak out against repression. |
|
The
most all penetrating spirit before which will open the possibility of tilting
not tables, but planets, is the spirit of free human inquiry. Believe only in
that. (16) His resignation from the university came as the result of carrying
a student petition to the Minister of Education. The Minister refused to
acknowledge the requests, stating that Mendeleev should keep to teaching and
not involve himself with students and politics. Mendeleev's final lecture at
the University of St. Petersburg was broken up by police who feared that he
might lead the students in an uprising. |
|
Dmitri's
personal life also appears to have been in turmoil for many years. In 1863,
with the heavy influence of his sister Olga, Dmitri married Feozva Nikitchna
Lascheva. They had two children, a boy named Volodya, and a daughter named
Olga. Mendeleev never really loved Feozva and actually spent little time with
her. One story suggests that, at one point in their life together, Feozva
asked Mendeleev if he was married to her or to science; his response was that
he was married to both unless that was bigamy, in which case he was married
to science. In January 1882, he divorced Feozva so he could marry his niece's
best friend, Anna Ivanova Popova. According to the Orthodox Church, Mendeleev
was officially a bigamist; however, he was so famous in Russia that the Czar
said "Mendeleev has two wives, yes, but I have only one
Mendeleev".(11) Anna was considerably younger than Dmitri but the two
loved each other very much and were together until his death. They had four
children: Liubov, Ivan, and twins Vassili and Maria. Anna also had
considerable influence over Mendeleev's views on art, and he was elected to
the Academy of Arts for both his insightful criticism and his painting. |
|
As he
grew older it also became apparent that personal appearance became less and
less significant to him. Many stories abound relating to the idea that in his
later years, Dmitri would only cut his hair and beard once a year. He would
not even cut it by request of the tsar. One observer stated, "Every hair
acted separate from the others." It becomes apparent that, in most
respects, work came first for Dmitri Mendeleev. |
|
From
his first publication in 1854 entitled "Chemical Analysis of a Sample
from Finland" to his final works in 1906 such as "A Project for a
School for Teachers" and "Toward Knowledge of Russia",
Mendeleev's transcripts revealing his research findings and beliefs number
well over 250. His most famous publications include Organic Chemistry, which
was published in 1861 when he was 27 years old. This book won the Domidov
Prize and put Mendeleev on the forefront of Russian chemical education. The
first edition of Principles of Chemistry was printed in 1868. Both of these
books are classroom texts. Again, Mendeleev never lost sight of the
importance of education. |
|
Besides
his work on general chemical concepts as discussed earlier, Mendeleev spent
much of his time working to improve technological advances of Russia. Many of
his research findings dealt with agricultural chemistry, oil refining, and
mineral recovery. Dmitri was also one of the founding members of the Russian
Chemical Society in 1868, and helped open the lines of communication between
scientists in Europe and the United States. |
|
Mendeleev
also pursued studies on the properties and behavior of gases at high and low
pressures, which led to his development of a very accurate differential
barometer and further studies in meteorology. He also became interested in
balloons, which led to a rather perilous adventure in 1887. In order to
observe the solar eclipse above Klin, he made a solo ascent, without any
prior experience; while his family was rather concerned, he paid no attention
to controlling the balloon until after he had completed his observations, at
which time he figured out how to land his conveyance. (4,9) |
|
His
greatest accomplishment, however, was the stating of the Periodic Law and the
development of the Periodic Table. From early in his career, he felt that
there was some type of order to the elements, and he spent more than thirteen
years of his life collecting data and assembling the concept, initially with
the idea of resolving some of the chaos in the field for his students.
Mendeleev was one of the first modern-day scientists in that he did not rely
solely on his own work but rather was in correspondence with scientists
around the world in order to receive data that they had collected. He then
used used their data along with his own data to arrange the elements
according to their properties. |
|
No
law of nature, however general , has been established all at once; its
recognition has always been preceded by many presentiments. The establishment
of a law, moreover, does not take place when the first thought of it takes
form, or even when its significance is recognised, but only when it has been
confirmed by the results of the experiment. The man of science must consider
these results as the only proof of the correctness of his conjectures and
opinions. (9) In 1866, Newlands published a relationship of the elements
entitled the "Law of Octaves". Mendeleev's ideas were similar to
those of Newlands but Dmitri had more data and felt that Newlands had not
gone far enough in his research. By 1869, the Russian chemist had assembled
detailed descriptions of more than 60 elements and, on March 6, 1869 a formal
presentation was made to the Russian Chemical Society entitled "The
Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the
Elements." Unfortunately, Mendeleev was ill and the presentation was
given by his colleague Professor Menshutken. There were eight points to his
presentation: |
|
The
elements, if arranged according to their atomic weights, exhibit an apparent
periodicity of properties. |
|
Elements
which are similar as regards their chemical properties have atomic weights
which are either of nearly the same value (eg. Pt, Ir, Os) or which increase
regularly (eg. K, Ru, Cs). |
|
The
arrangement of the elements, or of groups of elements in the order of their
atomic weights, corresponds to their so-called valencies, as well as, to some
extent, to their distinctive chemical properties; as is apparent among other
series in that of Li, Be, Ba, C, N, O, and Sn. |
|
The
elements which are the most widely diffused have small atomic weights. |
|
The
magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just
as the magnitude of the molecule determines the character of a compound body. |
|
We
must expect the discovery of many as yet unknown elements-for example,
elements analogous to aluminum and silicon- whose atomic weight would be
between 65 and 75. |
|
The
atomic weight of an element may sometimes be amended by a knowledge of those
of its contiguous elements. Thus the atomic weight of tellurium must lie
between 123 and 126, and cannot be 128. |
|
Certain
characteristic properties of elements can be foretold from their atomic
weights. (18) On November 29, 1870, Mendeleev took his concept even further
by stating that it was possible to predict the properties of undiscovered
elements. He then proceeded to make predictions for three new elements
(eka-aluminum, eka-boron and eka-silicon) and suggested several properties of
each, including density, radii, and combining ratios with oxygen, among
others. The science world was perplexed, and many scoffed at Mendeleev's
predictions. It was not until November, 1875, when the Frenchman Lecoq de
Boisbaudran discovered one of the predicted elements (eka-aluminum) which he
named Gallium, that Dmitri's ideas were taken seriously. The other two
elements were discovered later and their properties were found to be
remarkably similar to those predicted by Mendeleev. These discoveries,
verifying his predictions and substantiating his law, took him to the top of
the science world. He was 35 years old when the initial paper was presented |
|
Throughout
the remainder of his life, Dmitri Mendeleev received numerous awards from
various organizations including the Davy Medal from the Royal Society of
England in 1882, the Copley Medal, the Society's highest award, in 1905, and
honorary degrees from universities around the world. Following his
resignation from the University of St. Petersburg, the Russian government in
1893 appointed him Director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures. This was
believed to have been done to keep down public disapproval of the government.
Mendeleev continued to be a popular social figure until his death. In his
last lecture at the University of St. Petersburg Mendeleev said: |
|
I
have achieved an inner freedom. There is nothing in this world that I fear to
say. No one nor anything can silence me. This is a good feeling. This is the
feeling of a man. I want you to have this feeling too - it is my moral
responsibility to help you achieve this inner freedom. I am an evolutionist
of a peaceable type. Proceed in a logical and systematic manner. (16) Dmitri
Mendeleev was a man who rose out of the crowd to lead his people into the
future. The motto of Mendeleev's life was work, which he stated as: |
|
Work,
look for peace and calm in work: you will find it nowhere else. Pleasures
flit by - they are only for yourself; work leaves a mark of long-lasting joy,
work is for others. (17) On January 20, 1907 at the age of 73, while
listening to a reading of Jules Verne's Journey to the North Pole, (4)
Mendeleev floated away, peacefully, for the last time. |
|
Bibliography |
|
1. D.
Abbott, , Ed. "Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich", The Biographical
Dictionary of Scientists, Peter Bedrick Books, New York, 1986. |
|
2. I.
Asimov, Ed. "Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich", Asimov's Biographical
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd Rev. Ed..,Doubleday, Garden City,
NY, 1982. |
|
3. R.
Clemens, Modern Chemical Discoveries, E.P. Dutton & Co., New York,1956,
pp. 3-12. |
|
4. B.
Harrow, Eminent Chemists of Our Time, 2nd Ed., Van Nostrand, New York,1927,
pp. 18-40; 273-285. |
|
5.
E.J. Holmyard, Makers of Chemistry, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1929, pp.
267-273. |
|
6.
A.J. Ihde, The Development of Modern Chemistry, Harper & Row, New York,
1964, pp. 243-256. |
|
7. B.
Jaffe, Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry, Dover, New York, 1930, pp. 150-163. |
|
8.
G.B. Kauffman, "Mendeleev, Dimitry Ivanovich", The Electronic
Encyclopedia, Grolier, New York, 1988. |
|
9. J.
Kendall, Young Chemists and Great Discoveries, Appleton-Century, New York,
1939, pp. 186-201. |
|
10.
H.M. Leicester, The Historical Background of Chemistry, Dover, New York,
1956, pp. 192-198. |
|
11.
H.M. Leicester, "Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev", in E. Farber, ed.,
Great Chemists., Interscience, New York, 1961. |
|
12.
E.G. Mazurs, Graphic Representations of the Periodic System During One
Hundred Years, Univ. Alabama Press, University, Alabama, 1975. |
|
13.
D. Mendeleeff, The Principles of Chemistry, 3rd English Ed., Longmans, Green,
and Co., London, 1905. |
|
14.
J.R. Partington, A History of Chemistry, Vol. 4, Macmillan & Co., London,
1964, pp. 891-898. |
|
15.
M.M. Pattison Muir, A History of Chemical Theories and Laws, Arno Press, New
York, 1975, pp. 353-375. |
|
16.
D.Q. Posin, Mendeleev, The Story of a Great Chemist, Whittlesey House, New
York, 1948. |
|
17.
T.R. Seshadri, "Mendeleev-as Teacher and Patriot", in T.R.
Sheshadri, , ed., Mendeleev's Periodic Classification of Elements and Its
Applications, Proceedings of the Symposium held at IIT Kharagpur to celebrate
the centenary of Mendeleev's Periodic Classification, Hindustan Pub. Co.,
Delhi-110007, India, 1973. |
|
18.
T.E. Thorpe, "Scientific Worthies XXVI. Dmitri Ivanowitsh
Mendeleeff", Nature , 1889, XL, 193-197. |
|
19.
W.A. Tilden, Famous Chemists, The Men and their Work, Books for Libraries,
Freeport, New York, 1921 (rep. 1968) pp. 240-258. |
|
20.
S.E. Vides Lemus, Clasificacion Periodica de Mendelejew, Editorial del
Ministerio de Educacion Publica, Guatemala, 1959, pp. 25-27. |
|
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/chemistry/institutes/1992/Mendeleev.html |