Mendeleev`s Periodic Table of the Elements Mendeleev`s Periodic

8/19/14
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of
the Elements
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table:
Five Appearances
 
Д. Менделеев, Основы Химии [Elements of Chemistry], Санкт-Петербург, 1869 г.
David E. Lewis
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table:
Five Appearances
 
 
Д. Менделеев, Основы Химии [Elements of Chemistry], Санкт-Петербург, 1869 г.
Д. Менделеев, “Соотношение своиств с атомным весом елементов [The correlation of
properties with the atomic weights of the elements].” Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1869, 1,
60-77.
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table:
Five Appearances
 
 
 
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table:
Five Appearances
 
 
 
 
Д. Менделеев, Основы Химии [Elements of Chemistry], Санкт-Петербург, 1869 г.
Д. Менделеев, “Соотношение своиств с атомным весом елементов [The correlation of
properties with the atomic weights of the elements].” Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1869, 1,
60-77.
D. Mendelejeff, "Ueber die Beziehungen der Eigenschaften zu den Atomgewichten der
Elemente (On the Relationship of the Properties of the Elements to their Atomic
Weights)." Zeitschrift für Chemie 1869, 12, 405-406.
Д. Менделеев, “Естественная система элементов и применение ее к указаниву
своиств некоторых элементов [The natural system of the elements and it application in
the prediction of the properties of certain elements]." Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1871, 3,
25-56.
Д. Менделеев, Основы Химии [Elements of Chemistry], Санкт-Петербург, 1869 г.
Д. Менделеев, “Соотношение своиств с атомным весом елементов [The correlation of
properties with the atomic weights of the elements].” Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1869, 1,
60-77.
D. Mendelejeff, "Ueber die Beziehungen der Eigenschaften zu den Atomgewichten der
Elemente [On the Relationship of the Properties of the Elements to their Atomic
Weights]." Zeitschrift für Chemie 1869, 12, 405-406.
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table:
Five Appearances
 
 
 
 
 
Д. Менделеев, Основы Химии [Elements of Chemistry], Санкт-Петербург, 1869 г.
Д. Менделеев, “Соотношение своиств с атомным весом елементов [The correlation of
properties with the atomic weights of the elements].” Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1869, 1,
60-77.
D. Mendelejeff, "Ueber die Beziehungen der Eigenschaften zu den Atomgewichten der
Elemente (On the Relationship of the Properties of the Elements to their Atomic
Weights)." Zeitschrift für Chemie 1869, 12, 405-406.
Д. Менделеев, “Естественная система элементов и применение ее к указаниву
своиств некоторых элементов [The natural system of the elements and it application in
the prediction of the properties of certain elements]." Ж. Русс. Физ.-Хим. О-ва. 1871, 3,
25-56.
D. Mendeleejeff, “Die periodische Gesetzmässigkeit der chemischen Elemente [The
Periodic Regularity of the Chemical Elements],” Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie,
1872, Supplement 8, 133-229.
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Chronology:
Which paper?
 
 
date is February 17, 1869
Prospective title (in French,
enclosed by the author):
“Test of a system of the
elements based on their
atomic weights and
chemical properties” by D.
Mendeleeff, (profess?) of
the University at St.
Petersburg
ЖРФ-ХО
 
That Same Year—Abstracted
by the Zeitschrift für Chemie
Mendeleev’s periodic
table first appeared in
a chemical journal in
the 1869 volume of
the Журнал Русскаго
Физико-Химическаго
Общества [ЖРФХО].
Russian or German version?
The side-by-side comparison
 
 
The two versions are identical
Impact is decided by the number of readers
What is a “breakthrough”
paper? Guidelines
 
must be influential
What is a “breakthrough”
paper? Guidelines
 
 
must be influential
needs to have wide readership
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What is a “breakthrough”
paper? Guidelines
 
 
 
must be influential
needs to have wide readership
needs to raise the subject above the
level of just an interesting observation
What is a “breakthrough”
paper? Guidelines
 
 
 
 
Tempora sint, sed…
XVII: lingua franca scientiae Latinum est
 
 
Denn die Zeiten ändern sich
jetzt…
 
 
XVII: lingua franca scientiae latinum est
XVIII: Le «lingua franca» de la science
est le français
XIX: Das «lingua franca» des
Wissenschafts ist Deutsch
need not be the first paper
Les temps y changent…
 
 
must be influential
needs to have wide readership
needs to raise the subject above the
level of just an interesting observation
XVII: lingua franca scientiae latinum est
XVIII: Le «lingua franca» de la science
est le français
The times, they are achangin’…
 
 
 
 
XVII: lingua franca scientiae latinum est
XVIII: Le «lingua franca» de la science est le
français
XIX: Der «lingua franca» des Wissenschafts
ist Deutsch
XX-XXI: The “lingua franca” of science is
English
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…Но никогда для русского
языка
 
 
 
 
 
XVII: lingua franca scientiae latinum est
XVIII: Le «lingua franca» de la science est le
français
XIX: Der «lingua franca» des Wissenschafts
ist Deutsch
XX-XXI: The “lingua franca” of science is
English
Но: «лингва-франка» науки никогда не
было русский язык
So…
 
Papers in German were going to have a
much greater impact on the chemical
community than papers in Russian
1869: Who could read what?
 
 
 
 
German was the first language of
chemistry
French was second
English was third
Practically nobody but the Russians
bothered to read Russian
So…
 
 
Papers in German were going to have a
much greater impact on the chemical
community than papers in Russian
The papers in the Zeitschrift or the Annalen
are therefore the strongest candidates for the
“breakthrough” paper
A Closer Look: the
Zeitschrift für Chemie
So the Finalists are…
 
 
D. Mendelejeff, "Ueber die Beziehungen der
Eigenschaften zu den Atomgewichten der Elemente
(On the Relationship of the Properties of the
Elements to their Atomic Weights)." Zeitschrift für
Chemie 1869, 12, 405-406.
D. Mendeleejeff, “Die periodische Gesetzmässigkeit
der chemischen Elemente [The Periodic Regularity of
the Chemical Elements],” Annalen der Chemie und
Pharmacie, 1872, Supplement 8, 133-229.
 
 
Founded by Kekulé 1858
Edited by Erlenmeyer from 1859-1865
 
 
 
 
Editorship passed to Fittig, Beilstein and Hübner in 1865
 
 
 
 
regular publication restored
original research papers encouraged
readership rose rapidly, but then declined rapidly
restored prominence of journal as a serious competitor to Liebig’s
Annalen
Became a major forum for discussions of theories in chemistry
Became a major outlet for publication of results by Russian
chemists thanks to Beilstein
Eventually failed (1871) as the Berichte became the major outlet
for short communications
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My Task Simplified…
 
By 1890, the chemistry community had
pretty much settled on the Zeitschrift
paper
My Task Simplified…
 
 
By 1890, the chemistry community had
pretty much settled on the Zeitschrift
paper
I did not demur
The Presentation
 
 
St. Petersburg State University, October
31, 2013.
Plaque is located next to Mendeleev’s
statue in the main hall of the Twelve
Collegia Building, built by Peter the
Great, and now one of three major
buildings of St. Petersburg State
University
Отдел истории химии
Американского химического общества
«Прорыв в химической науке»
The Division of the History of Chemistry
of the
American Chemical Society
Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Awards
Unveiling the plaque
ACS присуждает награду СПбГУ
в номинации «Прорыв в
химической науке» за работу
Дмитрия Ивановича Менделеева:
за открытие Периодического
закона и создания Периодической
таблицы химических элементов.
[The ACS awards to St. Petersburg State University a
“Citation for Chemical Breakthrough” for the work of
Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev: for the discovery of the
periodic law and the creation of the periodic table of
chemical elements.]
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