The Brilliant Dmirti Ivanovich Mendeleev

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on February 7, 1834. He was the youngest of 14 children and the favorite of all. Mendeleev was provided as many opportunities that his mother could afford. When he was young he spent many hours in the glass factory his mother operated, learning from the chemist, who influenced him, about the concepts behind glass making and from the glass blower about the art of making glass. Another great influence in his life was Bessargin, his sister’s husband. Bessargin occupied himself teaching Dmitri the science of the day. Mendeleev’s early years were guided by these people, and so he was raised with three key thoughts: “Everything in this world is science” from Bessargin, “everything in the world is art” from the glass blower, and “Everything in the world is love,” from his mother.

Mendeleev knew at a very young age that he wanted to study science and saw very little need for studying topics such as Latin and history. He saw them as a waste of time. He later on passed his gymnasium exams and prepared to enter the university. He was allowed to take the entrance exams, which he passed, not with honors but well enough to be admitted to the science teacher training program on a full scholarship. He entered the university in the fall of 1850. He fell right into his work at St. Petersburg. His studies progressed rapidly until his third year. When he was struck with an illness that caused him to be in bed for the a year.

In Mendeleev’s days the atom was considered the most basic particle of matter. What Mendeleev and other chemist determined was the atomic weight of each element. How heavy its atoms were in comparison to an atom of hydrogen. Mendeleev said, “I began to look about and write down the elemen...

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...ed a formula similar to Gay-Lussac’s law of the consistency of the expansion of gases. In 1861 he anticipated Thomas Andrews conception of the critical temperature of gases by defining the absolute boiling point of a substance as the temperature at which cohesion and hear of vaporization become equal to zero and the liquid changes to vapor, irrespective of the pressure and volume.

Mendeleev accomplished many things. And received many awards from various organizations including the Davy Medal from the Royal Society of England in 1882, the Copley Medal, the Society's highest award, in 1905, and honorary degrees from universities around the world. After his resignation from the University of St. Petersburg, the Russian government in 1893 appointed him Director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures. Mendeleev continued to be a popular social figure until his death.