Here is the English translation of the given content: Dmitri Mendeleev: His Life and Work

Author: (Russian) Smirnov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on February 7, 1834, in the city of Tobolsk in Siberia, Russia. This was a time when capitalism was rapidly developing in Europe. The rapid growth of production continuously demanded new advancements in science and technology. Chemistry, like other sciences, had made astonishing progress. Mendeleev was born into this era. From a young age, Mendeleev loved labor and learning. He believed that only through labor could people achieve happiness and a fulfilling life; only through learning could people become wise. During his school years, a very famous chemistry teacher often lectured to them, enthusiastically introducing the new atomic theory pioneered by the British scientist Dalton. Due to the emergence of Dalton's new atomic theory, the pace of chemical development accelerated, and one new element after another was discovered. Chemistry, as a science, was exciting people's hearts. This teacher's lectures broadened Mendeleev's thinking and solidified his determination to dedicate his life to the science of chemistry. During his university studies, Mendeleev demonstrated extraordinary perseverance and selflessness. Suffering from illness, he wasted away day by day due to losing so much blood, becoming increasingly thin and pale. Yet, in his anemic hands, he always clutched a chemistry textbook. It contained many unresolved questions that haunted his mind, as if calling him to explore them quickly. He climbed the path of science at the cost of his life. He said, "I do this not for my own glory, but for the glory of the Russian name."——After a while, Mendeleev did not die but gradually recovered. Later, it was discovered that the doctor's diagnosis was incorrect; he had only suffered from tracheal bleeding. Due to his diligent studies and creative research during his studies, in 1855, he graduated from the college with outstanding achievements. After graduation, he taught at secondary schools in Simferopol and Odessa. During this period, he taught while conducting research under extremely harsh conditions, writing a paper titled "On Specific Volumes." In the paper, he pointed out a natural grouping of compounds based on their specific volumes. On January 15, 1857, he was approved as an associate professor of the chemistry department at St. Petersburg University, at the young age of 23. The path to the summit of science is a difficult and winding one. Mendeleev also endured immense hardships on this path. After becoming an associate professor of chemistry, he was responsible for teaching the course "Fundamentals of Chemistry." In theoretical chemistry, it was necessary to determine how many elements exist in nature, what similarities and differences there are between elements, and what internal connections they have. How new elements should be discovered? These questions were at the stage of exploration in the chemical community at the time. Over the past nearly fifty years, chemists from various countries have made relentless efforts to unlock this secret. Although some chemists, such as Berzelius and Newlands, objectively described certain connections between elements to a certain extent and from different perspectives, they did not generalize all elements as a whole, so they did not find the correct classification principle for elements. The young scholar Mendeleev also fearlessly plunged into this field and began the arduous exploration. He studied day and night, exploring the chemical properties of elements and their general atomic properties, writing each element on a small index card. He tried to capture the commonalities of elements within their complex characteristics. His research failed time and again. Yet he did not yield, did not lose heart, and persisted. To solve this problem thoroughly, he stepped out of the laboratory and began field investigations and the collection and organization of data. In 1859, he went to Heidelberg, Germany, for advanced scientific studies. Over two years, he focused on physical chemistry, solidifying the foundation of his exploration of the internal connections between elements. In 1862, he conducted an investigation of the Baku oil fields and conducted in-depth research on liquids, recalculating the atomic weights of some elements, gaining a profound understanding of their properties. In 1867, he took the opportunity to participate in the Russian exhibition at the World Industrial Exhibition in France, visiting and examining many chemical factories and laboratories in France, Germany, and Belgium, greatly broadening his horizons and enriching his knowledge. These practical experiences not only enhanced his ability to understand nature but also laid a solid foundation for his discovery of the periodic law of elements. Mendeleev returned to the laboratory and continued his research with his index cards. He arranged the elements he had recalculated in order of atomic weight. He discovered that elements with similar properties did not have similar atomic weights; on the contrary, some elements with different properties had similar atomic weights. He tightly grasped the relationship between atomic weight and properties, continuously researching. His mind often became dizzy due to excessive strain, but his efforts were not in vain. On February 19, 1869, he finally discovered the periodic law of elements. His periodic law stated that the properties of simple substances, as well as the forms and properties of their compounds, have a periodic dependence on the atomic weights of the elements. During the process of arranging the periodic table, Mendeleev boldly pointed out that some of the then-accepted atomic weights were inaccurate. For example, gold's atomic weight was then considered to be 169.2, and according to this, gold should be placed before osmium, iridium, and platinum in the periodic table, as their then-accepted atomic weights were 198.6, 6.7, and 196.7, respectively. Mendeleev firmly believed that gold should be placed after these three elements, and their atomic weights should all be recalculated. The results of the recalculation showed that osmium was 190.9, iridium was 193.1, platinum was 195.2, and gold was 197.2. Practice confirmed Mendeleev's conclusion and also proved the correctness of the periodic law. In the periodic table compiled by Mendeleev, there were still many empty spaces, which should be filled by undiscovered elements. Mendeleev theoretically calculated the important properties of these undiscovered elements and determined that they would have properties intermediate between those of neighboring elements. For example, between zinc and arsenic, he predicted that the properties of the two unknown elements would be similar to aluminum and silicon, respectively. Exactly four years after his predictions, the French chemist Boussingault discovered gallium using spectroscopic analysis from the mineral Meneghite, which contained zinc. The experiment proved that gallium's properties were very similar to aluminum, just as Mendeleev had predicted, i.e., the properties of the element similar to aluminum. The discovery of gallium was of great significance, fully demonstrating that the periodic law of elements is an objective law of nature and providing a law to follow for the future study of elements, the exploration of new elements, and the search for new materials. The periodic law of elements, like a cannonball, thundered across the world! Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic law of elements left an immortal glory in the world, and people held him in high esteem. Engels once pointed out in "Dialectics of Nature" that "Mendeleev unconsciously applied Hegel's law of the transformation of quantity into quality and completed a great achievement in science, which was on par with Leverrier's achievement in calculating the orbit of the unknown planet Neptune." Due to the limitations of his time, Mendeleev's periodic law was not perfect. In 1894, the discovery of the inert gas neon tested and supplemented the periodic law. In 1913, the British physicist Moseley, after studying the relationship between the wavelengths of X-rays of various elements and their atomic numbers, confirmed that the atomic number numerically equals the positive charge of the atomic nucleus, thereby clarifying that the foundation of the periodic law is not atomic weight but atomic number. The atomic structure theory that emerged under the guidance of the periodic law not only provided a new explanation for it but also further elucidated its essence, placing the periodic law as a natural law on a stricter and more scientific foundation. Through the continuous improvement and development by later generations, the periodic law of elements has played an increasingly significant role in people's struggle to understand, transform, and conquer nature. In addition to completing the achievement of the periodic law, Mendeleev also studied gas laws, meteorology, the petroleum industry, agricultural chemistry, smokeless powder, metrology, and other fields. Due to his relentless and tireless work day and night, he achieved accomplishments to varying degrees in these fields. On February 2, 1907, this world-renowned scientist passed away due to a heart attack. But the invaluable legacy he left to the world will forever remain in the annals of human history.