A Well-ordered Thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev And The Shadow Of The Periodic Table

by Michael D. Gordin

Dmitrii It's a name we recognize, but only as the disheveled scientist pictured in our high school chemistry textbook, the creator of the periodic table of elements. Until now little has been known about the man, but A Well-Ordered Thing draws a portrait of this chemist in three full dimensions.Historian Michael Gordin also details Mendeleev's complex relationship with the Russian Empire that was his home. From his attack on Spiritualism to his humiliation at the hands of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, from his near-mythical hot-air balloon trip to his failed voyage to the Arctic, this is the story of an extraordinary man deeply invested in the good of his country. And the ideals that shaped his work in politics and culture were the same ones that led a young chemistry professor to start putting elements in order.Mendeleev was a loyal subject of the Tsar, but he was also a maverick who thought that only an outsider could perfect a modern Russia. A Well-Ordered Thing is a fascinating glimpse into the world of Imperial Russia--and into the life of one of its most notorious minds.

Genres: History, Science, Biography, History Of Science, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 2004

About the author

Michael Gordin is Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Princeton University, where he specializes in the history of modern science. In 2013-4 he served as the inaugural director of the Fung Global Fellows Program. He came to Princeton in 2003 after earning his A.B. (1996) and his Ph.D. (2001) from Harvard University, and serving a term at the Harvard Society of Fellows. In 2011 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and was named a Guggenheim Fellow. He has published on the history of science, Russian history, and the history of nuclear weapons.

Reviews

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much different take on the eminent Russian chemist. Other works largely focus on Mendeleev's creation of the periodic table of elements. Gordin took that as his launching point, observing Mendeleev's subsequent career. We see a man obsessed with being recognized as the Russian Isaac Newton, and falling far short; of a man determined to plant his own stamp on science, politics, and culture, and mostly failing; and of a Russian caught between his admiration for the imperial state and (limited) academic-centered reforms. Ironically, despite the ultimate deterioration of his status by the end of his life, he gained new life as the icon of Soviet "science" and is remembered, much like Newton, for his earliest breakthroughs.

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is the story of two systematic misfits: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the Russian Empire. The central figure of this tale is the former, but its central object of inquiry is the latter; through Mendeleev and his vocation of chemistry, the turbulent culture of late Imperial Russia is laid bare. The periodic law, Mendeleev’s chief claim to fame, was at once a symptom of underlying pressures in the Russian environment and within chemistry. Both Russian history and the history of science converge around the notion of a “systematic misfit”: the tension between the attempt to create comprehensive, orderly systems, constructed for stability and clarity, and the awkward application of those systems to the real world. To the extent that a system can predict future behavior or events, it provides stability; on the other hand, such regularity makes it vulnerable to misfits that refuse to comply with its rigor. This is not the fault of Russians, or chemistry, or Mendeleev, but is merely a consequence of the inevitable messiness of the natural and social worlds in which we live. When one encounters such a misfit— in the periodic system, in economics, in private life— one has three choices: ignore the misfit; attempt to rebuild the system around the misfit; or, like the mythical Procrustes, who lopped off the legs of travelers to fit them into his bed, jam the misfit into the confines of the original system. Each approach, with varying degrees of hope and violence, appears in Mendeleev’s story, tracing a path through the cultural politics of the late nineteenth century that ranges from the machinations of empires to the vibration of atoms." (3)

[Alan Earhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want one book that covers the history of the periodic system of elements then this is probably not a good choice. I see why this would appear to be an obvious choice because it's about Mendeleev, but the periodic system covers many more people than just Mendeleev.

While people know him as the father of the periodic system, his life covered far more than that. If you like reading biographies of scientists or if you want to learn about the periodic system and its history (not just Mendeleev's contribution), then this is a good choice.

[Jaap Hoogenboezem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was mostly interested in how the Periodic Table was created but there is actually not much about that in the book. The Periodic Table business is finished in chapter 3 and I actually did not get much insight in how Mendeleev created it and what the state of affairs was before he started working on it. There is much on Russian history in the book, but that was not what I was interested in.

[Chik67 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do understand this is mainly an academic essay. I think I would have liked here and there at least a subtle indication of the fact that at a certain moment in time and space Mendeleev was alive... :/

(but I learned a lot)

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of Russian and science around the time of Mendeleev, who, for those who don't know, was the first to organize the periodic table.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was unable to finish this book. I found it repetitive and shallow. It gave me no insight into the man.

[Brenda Stahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most interesting facet of the periodic table. This man was misunderstood and had too many adventuress.

[Nick Black]

Amazon third party, 2009-04-24.