Pros: Readers can learn about the man who created the Periodic Table of Elements
Cons: May seem to drag on in some places.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this book to people who like chemistry and who want to learn about the history of one of the most important men in science.
wenwater45's Full Review: Michael D. Gordin - A Well-Ordered Thing: Dmitrii ...
Readers learn a lot about a special man in the biography, A Well-Ordered Thing Dmiitrii Mendeleev and the Shadow of the Periodic Table by Michael D. Gordin. This special man is named Dmitrii Mendeleev. This book is all about him and his accomplishments. As Gordin wrote, "I wrote seven major episodes from Mendeleev's life because they emphasize a different feature of the cultural life of both Imperial Petersburg and nineteenth-century science."
One of Mendeleev's accomplishments is that he created the Periodic Table of Elements, originally used as a guide for his chemistry students at St. Petersburg University in Russia. To help with Mendeleev's cause, the Periodic Table predicted the existence of three unknown elements and became the back bone for modern chemistry.
The First published form of Mendeleev's periodic system dated February 17, 1869 and was entitled, "An Attempt at a System of Elements, Based on Their Atomic Weight and Chemical Affinity." Mendeleev would draw on certain aspects of research when formulating his periodic system: a concern with the elements physical, not chemical, properties, attention to classification, and a reconsideration of atomic-weight values.
In this book readers can obtain knowledge about a remarkable man who has done so much in the field of science and who has opened many doors for future scientists.
As Gordin writes in his last line of the biography, "No matter what happened Mendeleev always returned to to the system in order to chart his course. It was the best hope for making the world predictable and that was a dream too dear to relinquish."
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