Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest For the Elements

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Most amusing (and tedious) of all was the chapter on Paracelsus, because Strathern couldn't decide what attitude to have toward him, and he literally alternates back and forth from one paragraph to the next. But if you have to put in the modern judgement (which may possibly be a service to modern readers), do it ONCE and do it AT THE END. It is also extremely well matched to the fascinating story adduced in this absorbing and enlightening book.

The second half of the book, beginning with Van Helmont’s experiments with gases in the 1500s, is a much better historical summary of chemistry up to Mendeleyev’s theoretical breakthrough of the Periodic Table, although it still suffers from a predilection to spend more time on the biographies of the scientists than on the practical and experimental details of the chemistry they performed. Despite its title, this is not a biography of Dmitri Mendeleyev, the Russian scientist who formulated the Periodic Table of Elements. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Virgin Islands (U. A history of chemistry, starting with ancient philosophy, via alchemy, and culminating in Mendeleyev's periodic table. The ancient Greeks speculated about earth, air, fire, and water; today we turn to the periodic table for more reliable information.Just as Newton’s laws and Darwin’s theory of evolution laid the foundation for modern physics and biology respectively, it was Mendeleyev’s Periodic Table that provided the bedrock for chemistry. So, if you're looking for a whistle stop tour of celebrities from the history of chemistry then this is the book for you.

It would be a good history, but the author irksomely takes an interest in the gossip on each famous scientist. He later dreamt of a snake swallowing its tail, a vision that helped him determine the circular structure of the Benzene molecule. For example, Mendeleyev’s Periodic Table was so successful because it was predictive as well as descriptive. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. Plus there was a lot of detail on the more primitive scientists and I admittedly was more interested in John Dalton and after.Now that Imitation Game about Alan Turing is still in the theatres, the reader appreciates all the more what singular characters it takes to make significant advances in science or any other human endeavour for that matter. The dream, of course, was just a function of what the human brain normally does during sleep — organizing and consolidating the ideas, images, and bits of information that occupy our waking hours.

This, however, does not detract from the amazing story behind the distillation of modern chemistry out of the quagmire of beliefs and false starts - era after era - finally culminating in Mendeleyev's periodic table of the elements and the birth of modern chemistry. Mendeleyev and others like him spent a lifetime accumulating knowledge, sticking to it and taking risks, often at the expense of their happiness, reputations, fortunes and even their lives. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. In that sense it is a very enjoyable read and started me thinking again about aspects like the theories of correspondences and signes and what the scientific revolution was about. Trailblazing chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (February 8, 1834–February 2, 1907) came to scientific greatness via an unlikely path, overcoming towering odds to create the periodic table foundational to our understanding of chemistry.uses the creation of the periodic table by the great Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev, who literally dreamed it up, to bookend a journey through the history of chemistry. Chemistry has been a neglected area of science writing, and Mendeleyev, the king of chemistry, is a largely forgotten genius. i’ve laughed, audibly gasped, and felt like i was going crazy along with all of the famous and infamous geniuses of the centuries.