A well-ordered thing

Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table

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A well-ordered thing
Michael D. Gordin
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August 18, 2010 | History

A well-ordered thing

Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table

  • 0 Ratings
  • 2 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

"When a young Dmitrii Mendeleev drafted the Periodic Table of Elements as a guide for his chemistry students at St. Petersburg University, he already had dreams of building a unified scientific empire in his home of Russia, with a place for himself in the limelight." "That the Periodic Table predicted the existence of three unknown elements and became the framework for modern chemistry helped Mendeleev's cause; it gave him a platform for social change and sensationalism. When he battled the emergence of Spiritualism in Russia, playing the skeptical foil in the seances he attended, newspapers across St. Petersburg paid attention. When he ventured into the sky as the novice pilot of a hot-air balloon, it made meteorology noteworthy in Russia. His attempts to distill a pure "ether" from the earth's atmosphere were similarly brave, but that chemical prophecy turned out to be less inspired." "Mendeleev's relationship with the Russian establishment was equally turbulent. He was advisor to the Tsar, vitriolic proponent of protectionism, and he later introduced the metric system to the Russian Empire. But his dramatic rejection at the hands of the Russian Academy of Sciences sent him into a tailspin that saw him spend his later years clawing to hold onto the reputation he established in his youth, while trying to reinvent himself as a scientific legend, a Siberian Isaac Newton. Mendeleev was a loyal subject of the Tsar, but he was also a maverick who thought that only an outsider could perfect a modern Russia. He wanted to remake Russia just as he had remade chemistry, and his successes - and his failures - were significant."--BOOK JACKET.

Publish Date
Publisher
Basic Books
Language
English
Pages
364

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: A well-ordered thing
A well-ordered thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table
2004, Basic Books
in English
Cover of: A well-ordered thing
A well-ordered thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table
2004, Basic Books
in English
Cover of: A well-ordered thing
A well-ordered thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table
2004, Basic Books
in English
Cover of: A well-ordered thing
A well-ordered thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the shadow of the periodic table
2004, Basic Books
in English
Cover of: A Well-Ordered Thing
A Well-Ordered Thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the Shadow of the Periodic Table
April 27, 2004, Basic Books
in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Elements of the system
The ideal gas lawyer
Chasing ghosts
The great reaction
The imperial turn
Making Newtons
Disintegration.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [258]-357) and index.

Published in
New York
Genre
Biography.

Classifications

Library of Congress
QD22.M43 G67 2004, QD22.M43 G67 2004

The Physical Object

Pagination
xx, 364 p. :
Number of pages
364

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL17724013M
ISBN 10
046502775X
LCCN
2003025533
Library Thing
537436
Goodreads
862879

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
August 18, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 16, 2010 Edited by bgimpertBot Added goodreads ID.
December 15, 2009 Edited by WorkBot link works
September 30, 2008 Created by ImportBot Imported from Oregon Libraries MARC record