Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834 – 1907), Prominent Russian Scientist. References to His Great Scientific Achievements in the Literature between 1871 and 1917

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834 - 1907), prominente científico ruso. Referencias a sus grandes logros científicos en la literatura entre 1871 y 1917

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (Figure 1) was born in Siberian town Tobolsk on February 8, 1834. He entered local middle school in 1841 and completed it in 1849. In 1856, he graduated St. Petersburg’s Main Pedagogical Institute (Makarenya, 1982, p. 21). On the January 9, 1857, Mendeleev was employed in the Organic Chemistry Department at the Imperial University in Petersburg as private docent (Zagrebayevaya & Savina, 2014).

In the years 1859 – 1861, he had a fellowship to study in Heidelberg. There he worked in the Laboratory of Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-1899) (Shtrube, 1981/1984, p.77).

Figure 1
D. I. Mendeleev (1834-1907) (“Dmitri Ivanovitsch Mendelejew”, 1890)

In 1860, Mendeleev attended the first ever international chemistry conference held in Karlsruhe (Germany) on 3-5 September (Mendeleev, 1958, pp. 660-669; Mladentsev & Tishchenko, 1938, pp. 243-260). Lecture by Cannizzaro (1826-1910) entitled “The atomic and molecular weights” impressed the participants in this conference, especially young ones. Cannizzaro devoted his lecture to the hypothesis formulated by Amadeo Avogardo (1776- 1856), Italian physicist, in 1811. Cannizzaro clearly presented “formulas of the chemical compounds according to Avogadro and Gerhardt, and Laurent¹ ideas (Makarenya, 1982, p. 46). He also emphasized a necessity to calculate atomic weights of metals more precisely (Makarenya, 1982, p. 46). It resulted in the acceptance of his new atomistic-molecular theory by the chemists in the future. Basic assumptions of this theory Cannizzaro included in his work entitled Sketch of a Course of Chemical Philosophy published in 1858 (Cannizzaro, 1858).

On September 7, 1860, in Heidelberg, Mendeleev wrote a long letter to his teacher, Russian chemist Aleksandr Abramovich Voskresenskii (1809-1880), professor of chemistry at St. Petersburg’s Main Pedagogical Institute. He described his impressions about his participation in the conference in Karlsruhe (Figurovskii & Solov’ev, 1950/1988, pp. 138-141). In February 1861, Mendeleev returned to Russia and gave lectures of the organic chemistry at the university in Petersburg. In 1863, he began working as a professor in the St. Petersburg Technological Institute. On 12 February, 1865, Mendeleev defended his dissertation and became Doctor of Science. In 1866, he achieved tenure at St. Petersburg University (Zagrebayevaya & Savina, 2014).

In 1876, Mendeleev with his assistant Valeri Aleksandrovich Hemilian (1851-1914) attended World Industrial Exhibition in Philadelphia. While staying in U.S.A. (from June to July 1876), Mendeleev got acquainted with oil extraction and processing in Pennsylvania State (Figurovskii, 1983, p. 149; Leicester, 1957, pp. 331-333).

In 1887, Mendeleev participated in A British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) meeting in Manchester. German chemist Lothar Meyer (1830-1895)² also attended this meeting (“History and Heritage”, 2018). In 1893, Mendeleev was appointed a director of the Central Bureau of Weights and Measures. One year later, he received honorary doctorates of two British universities – Oxford and Cambridge (Figurovskii, 1983, p. 214). In 1898, Józef Boguski³ informed Mendeleev that married couple Curie discovered polonium and radium (Makarenya, 1982, p. 225).

In March 1900, Mendeleev met British chemist William Ramsay (1852-1916) in London. Scientists agreed that formation of the zero group in the periodic table of elements for the noble gases is necessary (Finkelsztejn, 1964). In the same year, Mendeleev visited Prague, where he met prominent Czech chemist Bohuslav F. Brauner (1855-1935), and professor of the inorganic and analytical chemistry at the Charles University in Prague (Figurovskii, 1983, pp. 230-231; Štrbàňovà & Novàk, 2014, p. 10). In April 1902, Mendeleev went to Paris, where he met Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) – discoverer of the natural radioactivity and Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906) (Figurovskii, 1983, p. 232). In 1903, the seventh edition of the Principles of Chemistry by Mendeleev, in which the periodic table of elements, contained a separate group of the noble gases (Mendeleev, 1958, p. 364).

On September 2, 1906, Mendeleev started to write biographic notes. He concisely described the most important events in his live between 1934 and 1906. These notes were related to his parents and children, his education and career, surgery of glaucoma in the left eye (1904), and selected holidays spent abroad (Mendeleev, 1952, pp. 669-685). At the end of these notes, concerning year 1906, Mendeleev wrote:” I began to set in order my books and documents – it absorb me completely ‒ prior to my death, although I feel quite well… Financial problems I set in order like for my death” (Mendeleev, 1952, p. 685).

Russian scientist died on the 2 February, 1907, aged 73 years. He was the author of over 400 scientific works in the field of physics, chemistry, and border science – physical chemistry. The Academy of Sciences of the USRR published 25 volumes of his scientific works in 1934 – 1957. They are his master’s thesis and doctorate dissertations and publications concerning investigation of aqueous solutions, liquids and gases, works in the field of geophysics and hydrodynamics as well as works in the field of organic chemistry, gunpowder, petroleum, fuel, metallurgy, and also technology of the inorganic and organic substances (Mendeleev, 1954). Moreover, Mendeleev left several manuscripts. His name is connected not only with the periodic law. Another his discovery was chemical theory of the solutions. His publications are stored in the Museum-Archives at the A.A. Żdanov University in St. Petersburg.

The first transuranic element (Z=101) discovered by the American scientist in 1955 was named mendelevium (Md) in honor to D.I. Mendeleev (Hoffman & Lee, 1999).

At the end of 1870, Mendeleev use the term “periodic law” for the first time. In August 1871, he presented its conceptualization (Trifonov, 2006): “The properties of the elements, as well as the forms and properties of their compounds, are in periodic dependence on, or (expressing ourselves algebraically) form a periodic function of the atomic weights of the elements (Mendeléeff, 1903/1905, pp. 17-18).

In 1869, Mendeleev elaborated classification of the chemical elements for the first time. All 63 known elements Mendeleev arranged in a table according to increasing atomic weight. He also left empty places, claiming that they should be fulfilled by undiscovered elements. In 1870, Mendeleev made a few corrections in his table. His final ideas he presented in the publication entitled Natural System of Elements and Its Use in Determination of the Undiscovered Elements” which was published in the “Żurnal Russkogo Chimiczeskogo Obszczestwa” (Journal of the Russian Chemical Society) in 1871 (Mendeleev, 1871, cited by Mendeleev, 1958, pp. 69-101). He, first of all, defined new locations of indium, cerium, thorium, and uranium. Special attention he paid to boron and aluminium analogues ‒ elements of the third group. According to Mendeleev, zinc should be followed by another element, named by him ekaalumini ‒ El. Mendeleev predicted its atomic weight ‒ 68, atomic volume ‒ 11.5, density – 5.9, and other spectral characteristics. On August 27, 1875, French chemist Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1838-1912) discovered predicated by Mendeleev ekaalumini and named it gallium (Brush, 1996, p. 602; Lecoq de Boisbaudran, 1875, pp. 493-495; Mendeleef, 1875, p. 972; Mendeleev, 1958, p. 92; Smith, 1949, p. 35).

Mendeleev’s prognosis concerning an existence of boron analogue, which he named ekabor ‒ Eb, became the truth (Mendeleev, 1958, pp. 90-91). This element was discovered by Swedish chemist Lars Frederic Nilson (1840-1899) in 1879 and named scandium (Brush, 1996, p. 604; Nilson, 1879, pp. 645-648; Smith, 1949, p. 183). Discovery of germanium by German chemist Clemens Alexander Winkler on the 6th February, 1886, decisively confirmed correctness of the periodic table of the elements defined by Mendeleev (Brush, 1996, p. 605; Haustein, 2011, pp.140-144; Smith, 1949, p. 256; Winkler, 1886, pp. 210-211). Mendeleev predicted its existence. He named it ekasilici ‒ Es, and described some of its properties (Mendeleev, 1958, p. 95; Shtrube, 1981/1984, p. 81).

Analysis of the available literature showed that some authors the Mendeleev’s name inseparably connected with his prediction of three unknown elements and their properties (ekaalumini, ekabor, and ekasilici) in their books or articles in 1899-1917. They also mentioned successful realization of the predictions in the years 1875 – 1886 (discovery of gallium, scandium, and germanium) (Armitage, 1906, p. 253; Bauer, 1906/1907, p. 187; Clarke & Dennis, 1902, p. 171; Forbes, 1917, pp. 851-852; Griffiths, 1912, pp. 126-136; Hiortdahl, 1906, p. 127; Landenburg, 1885/1911, p. 313; Lowry, 1915, pp. 476-477; Mellor, 1914, p. 811; Mendola, 1914, p. 241; Moore, 1918, p. 188; Morgan and Lyman, 1915, p. 402; Ramsay, 1908, p. 165; Ramsay, 1911, p. 295; Senter, 1911, p. 385; Walden, 1908, p. 4750; Wiechmann, 1899, p. 75).

In 1875, Mendeleev attended celebrations of the 300th Anniversary of the University in Leiden (Netherlands). In August 1877, he attended celebrations of the 400th Anniversary of the University in Uppsala (Sweden). Seven years later, in April 1884, Mendeleev participated in celebrations of the 300th Anniversary of the University in Edinburgh (Scotland) (Tishchenko & Mladentsev, 1993, p. 111). He received their Honorary Doctorate (Marsden, 1884, pp. 87-88). In 1900, Mendeleev visited Berlin to participate in the conference devoted to the 200th Anniversary of Berliner (Prussian) Academy of Sciences (Figurovskii, 1983, p. 231). Figure 2 is a photography made during this celebration⁴ (“200th Anniversary”, 1900).

Figure 2
Mendeleev with the group of the prominent chemists (“200th Anniversary”, 1900).

Literature concerning Mendeleev’s life and activity, published in the former USRR and Russia in 1938-2014, is enormous. His biographies wrote Boyarintsev (2014), Dobrotin, Karpilo, Kerova and Trifonov (1984), Figurovskii (1983), Makarenya (1982), Mladentsev and Tishchenko (1938), Pisarzhevskiy (1949), and Tishchenko and Mladentsev (1993). In 1892-2010, Mendeleev’s biographies were published also in the journals and books in the languages other than Russian, mostly English. For instance, it was published in The Popular Science Monthly in New York under the title Sketch of Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleef (Youmans, 1982, pp. 261-266). Mendeleev’s biography in the German language was written by Paul Walden (1908) and Gisele Boeck and Regine Zott (2007). Mendeleev’s biography in English was written by Ethel Roberts (1911, pp. 208-219), Arthur Bower Griffiths (1912, pp. 126- 136), William A.Tilden (1921, pp. 241-258), George Shannon Forbes (1917), Benjamin Harrow (1910, pp. 19-40), Bohuslav Brauner (1930), Daniel Q. Posin (1948) and Gordon T. Woods (2010).

The memory of Mendeleev is always vivid, especially in Russia. In the first decade of the XXI century, two articles were published in English. Their authors describe person and achievements of this eminent chemist. The first article was published under the title D. I. Mendeleev: Life and Creative Work (Dimitrriev, 2009), the second ‒ A Great Son of Russia (Papulov, 2009). Vera Nikolayevna Zagrebayevaya and Galina Aleksandrovna Savina, scientists from the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences elaborated available in the Web documental presentation in occasion of Mendeleev’s 180th Anniversary of Birth. It is available in Russian (Zagrebayevaya & Savina, 2014).

Mendeleev, being the discoverer of the periodic law and the author of the periodic table of the chemical elements, slowly gained higher publicity in the world of chemistry, since 1871 (Solov'ev, 1984, pp. 1069-1071). In the years 1871-1903, he was elected as a foreign member of several academies of sciences and scientific associations. On the February 5, 1871 Mendeleev was elected as a foreign member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, and three weeks later ‒ German Chemists Association. On the 1st February, 1888, Mendeleev become the foreign member of the Royal Society in Edinburgh. Czech Academy of Sciences elected him on the 2nd December, 1891, and Academy of Sciences in Rome on the November 7, 1893. At the beginning of the XX century, Mendeleev was elected the foreign member of the Italian Scientific Society (March 3, 1901) and the National Academy of Sciences in Washington (April 22, 1903). Moreover, Mendeleev had 20 diplomas of the honorary member, among other the Royal Scientific Societies in Dublin (March 4, 1886) and Goteborg (December 6, 1886), and the American Scientific Society in New York (June 12, 1889). On the 5 April, 1889, he became member of the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, and on 18 February he was appointed such a member of the Cracow Academy of Sciences (Skvortsov, 1950, p. 118-120).

Since the 90th of the XIX century, England proved to be the most generous in the recognition of Mendeleev’s merits. In 1882-1905, its prove were three medals and membership in the London Chemical Society and Royal Society. British chemist William Augustus Tilden (1842-1926) reported it as follows: “In 1882 the Royal Society conferred on Medeleeff, jointly with Lothar Meyer, the Davy Medal⁵. In 1883 the Chemical Society elected him an Honorary Member, and in 1889 it conferred upon him the highest distinction in its power to award, namely the Faraday Lectureship⁶, with which is associated the Faraday Medal. In 1890 he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, and in 1905 he received the Copley Medal. So far as England is concerned, his services to science received full acknowledgment. It is all the more remarkable, therefore, that he never became a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg” (Miers et al., 1914, p. 134).

Another British chemist Thomas Edward Thorpe did homage to Mendeleev in 1889. His article about Mendeleev in the Nature he also inserted to the book entitled Essays in Historical Chemistry. His admiration he expressed in the following words:

No man in Russia has exercised a greater or more lasting influence on the development of physical science than Mendeleeff. His mode of work and of thought is so absolutely his own, the manner of his teaching and lecturing is so entirely original, and the success of the great generalization with which his name and fame are bound up is so strikingly complete, that to the outer world of Europe and America he is to Russia what Berzelius was to Sweden, or Liebig to Germany, or Dumas to France (Thorpe, 1894, p. 364).

Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of the Elements of 1869 – 1871, in its short form underwent metamorphosis because its appearance has changed. Now, chemists use its long form in the research laboratories, colleges, and universities. Moreover, this table during 147 years, which passed from 1869 to 2016, completed with the names and symbols of 55 new elements. At the beginning of 2016, the periodic table of elements four last elements were added of Z = 113, 115, 117, and 118 (Karol, Barber, Sherrill, Vardaci, and Yamazaki, 2016a, 2016b). These elements have their own names and symbols approved by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). These are: nihonium Nh; moscovium Mc; tennessine Ts, and oganesson Og (“Periodic Table of”, 2018).