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1834–1907 · Periodic Table

Dmitri Mendeleev

Russian chemist who formulated the Periodic Law and created the periodic table, boldly predicting the properties of elements that had not yet been discovered.

MdRussia

Early Life

Born in 1834 in Tobolsk, Siberia, Mendeleev was the youngest of a large family (sources say 11 to 17 children). His father went blind and died when Dmitri was young; his determined mother ran a glass factory, and after it burned down she travelled thousands of kilometres with him to find a university place. He trained as a teacher at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St Petersburg, graduating top of his class despite suffering from tuberculosis. He later studied in Heidelberg, where he researched capillarity and the critical temperature of liquids.

Major Discoveries

  • 01Formulated the Periodic Law (1869): properties of elements repeat periodically with atomic weight
  • 02Published the first widely recognised periodic table
  • 03Predicted 'eka-aluminium' (gallium), 'eka-boron' (scandium) and 'eka-silicon' (germanium) with remarkable accuracy
  • 04Corrected the atomic weights of several elements such as beryllium and uranium
  • 05Studied the concept of critical temperature ('absolute boiling point') of liquids
  • 06Researched solutions and hydrates, and the chemistry of petroleum

Famous Experiments

  • 01Arranged cards of the 63 known elements by atomic weight and properties to reveal repeating groups
  • 02Measured thermal expansion and density of liquids to explore critical temperature
  • 03Investigated the composition of Baku oil fields and advised on refining methods

Awards & Honors

  • 01Davy Medal of the Royal Society (1882)
  • 02Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1905)
  • 03Faraday Lectureship of the Chemical Society (1889)
  • 04Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1892)

Legacy

The periodic table remains the central organising tool of all chemistry. Mendeleev's predictions, confirmed within 15 years, proved that science could forecast undiscovered nature. Element 101, mendelevium, bears his name, and he also founded Russia's first standards bureau for weights and measures.

Fun Facts

  • 01Legend says the table came to him in a dream, though he worked on it for years
  • 02He missed the Nobel Prize in 1906 by a single vote
  • 03He cut his hair and beard only once a year
  • 04He famously flew solo in a hot-air balloon in 1887 to observe a solar eclipse