By using Sanskrit prefixes to name "missing" elements, Mendeleev may have recorded his debt to the Sanskrit grammarians of ancient India, who had created theories of language based on their discovery of the two-dimensional patterns of speech sounds (exemplified by the Śivasūtras in Pāṇini's Sanskrit grammar). Mendeleev was a friend and colleague of the Sanskritist Otto von Böhtlingk, who was preparing the second edition of his book on Pāṇini [45] at about this time, and Mendeleev wished to honor Pāṇini with his nomenclature. [46] [47] [48] A promising scholar, Mendeleev — also spelled Mendeleyev in English — published papers by the time he was 20 and attended the world’s first chemistry conference at 26. By his mid-thirties, he was intensely preoccupied with classifying the 56 elements known by that point. He struggled to find an underlying principle that would organize them according to sets of similar properties and eventually reaped the benefits of the pattern-recognition that fuels creativity. Marshall, James L. Marshall; Marshall, Virginia R. Marshall (2007). "Rediscovery of the elements: The Periodic Table" (PDF). The Hexagon: 23–29 . Retrieved 30 December 2019. Gerard I. Nierenberg (1986). "The art of creative thinking", Simon & Schuster, p. 201: Dmitri Mendeleev's solution for the arrangement of the elements that came to him in a dream.

Vaccines / Used chemistry in medicine / life is chemical process / published Great Surgery Book / Mercury, salt, sulphur theory He wrote: "The capital fact to note is that petroleum was born in the depths of the earth, and it is only there that we must seek its origin." (Dmitri Mendeleev, 1877) [57] Activities beyond chemistry Strathern is anything but sloppy. He injects something to his account that is rarely seen these days: wisdom. He is able to situate himself in a person's life in its historical context without making a fuss about it. That approach results in delightful and insightful passages as this: He debated against the scientific claims of spiritualism, arguing that metaphysical idealism was no more than ignorant superstition. He bemoaned the widespread acceptance of spiritualism in Russian culture, and its negative effects on the study of science. [64] Vodka mythBeginning in the 1870s, he published widely beyond chemistry, looking at aspects of Russian industry, and technical issues in agricultural productivity. He explored demographic issues, sponsored studies of the Arctic Sea, tried to measure the efficacy of chemical fertilizers, and promoted the merchant navy. [58] He was especially active in improving the Russian petroleum industry, making detailed comparisons with the more advanced industry in Pennsylvania. [59] Although not well-grounded in economics, he had observed industry throughout his European travels, and in 1891 he helped convince the Ministry of Finance to impose temporary tariffs with the aim of fostering Russian infant industries. [60] Of course this book is a little (!) whiggish and not in any way informed by the newer sociology of science / STS approaches. Strathern conjures up from the dusty past, and richly fleshes out for us, the long line of extraordinary characters, their lives, influences, and contributions that eventually produced modern chemistry that has so profoundly shaped the modern world. In 1890 he resigned his professorship at St. Petersburg University following a dispute with officials at the Ministry of Education over the treatment of university students. [61] In 1892 he was appointed director of Russia's Central Bureau of Weights and Measures, and led the way to standardize fundamental prototypes and measurement procedures. He set up an inspection system, and introduced the metric system to Russia. [62] [63] a b Larcher, Alf (21 June 2019). "A mother's love: Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva". Chemistry in Australia magazine. Royal Australian Chemical Institute. ISSN 1839-2539 . Retrieved 20 October 2019.

Mendeleev studied petroleum origin and concluded hydrocarbons are abiogenic and form deep within the earth – see Abiogenic petroleum origin. Saint-PetersburgState University. "Museum-Archives n.a. Dmitry Mendeleev – Museums – Culture and Sport – University – Saint-Petersburg state university". Eng.spbu.ru. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010 . Retrieved 19 August 2012. In the Twelve Collegia building, now being the centre of Saint Petersburg State University and in Mendeleev's time – Head Pedagogical Institute – there is Dmitry Mendeleev's Memorial Museum Apartment [69] with his archives. The street in front of these is named after him as Mendeleevskaya liniya (Mendeleev Line). Mendeleyev’s Dream is a wonderfully entertaining and stimulating journey from alchemy to chemistry in search of the elements of our universe. It is a book of great clarity and depth.” Jim CraceMichael D. Gordin, "Measure of all the Russias: Metrology and governance in the Russian Empire." Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 4.4 (2003): 783–815. Dement, W. (1972[74]). Some must watch while some must sleep. New York: Norton [San Francisco: Freeman]. Gordin, Michael D. (2015). Scientific Babel: How Science Was Done Before and After Global English. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226000299.