Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich - Russian scientist, brilliant chemist, physicist, researcher in the field of metrology, hydrodynamics, geology, deep expert in industry, instrument-maker, economist, aeronaut, teacher, public figure and original thinker.

Childhood and youth

The great scientist was born in 1834, on February 8, in Tobolsk. Father Ivan Pavlovich was the director of district schools and the Tobolsk gymnasium, descended from the family of the priest Pavel Maksimovich Sokolov, Russian by nationality.

Ivan changed his last name in childhood, as a student of the Tver Seminary. Presumably, this was done in honor of his godfather, the landowner Mendeleev. Later, the question of the nationality of the scientist's surname was repeatedly raised. According to some sources, she testified about Jewish roots, according to others - about German. Dmitry Mendeleev himself said that his teacher from the seminary gave Ivan the surname. The young man made a successful exchange and thus became famous among his classmates. According to two words - "to do the exchange" - Ivan Pavlovich was entered in the training sheet.


Mother Maria Dmitrievna (nee Korniliev) was engaged in raising children and housework, had a reputation as an intelligent and intelligent woman. Dmitry was the youngest in the family, the last of fourteen children (according to other information, the last of seventeen children). At the age of 10, the boy lost his father, who went blind and soon died.

During his studies at the gymnasium, Dmitry did not show his abilities, Latin was the most difficult for him. His mother instilled a love for science, she also participated in the formation of his character. Maria Dmitrievna took her son to study in St. Petersburg.


In 1850, in St. Petersburg, the young man entered the Main Pedagogical Institute at the Department of Natural Sciences of Physics and Mathematics. His teachers were professors E. H. Lenz, A. A. Voskresensky and N. V. Ostrogradsky.

While studying at the institute (1850-1855) Mendeleev demonstrates outstanding abilities. As a student, he publishes the article "On Isomorphism" and a number of chemical analyzes.

The science

In 1855 Dmitry received a diploma with a gold medal and was sent to Simferopol. Here he works as a senior gymnasium teacher. With the outbreak of the Crimean War, Mendeleev moved to Odessa and received a teaching position at the Lyceum.


In 1856 he was again in St. Petersburg. She studies at the university, defends her thesis, teaches chemistry. In the fall, he defended another dissertation and was appointed assistant professor of the university.

In 1859 Mendeleev was sent on a business trip to Germany. Works at the University of Heidelberg, equips a laboratory, examines capillary liquids. Here he wrote articles "On the temperature of absolute boiling" and "On the expansion of liquids", the phenomenon of "critical temperature" was discovered.


In 1861, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg. Creates the textbook "Organic Chemistry", for which he is awarded the Demidov Prize. In 1864 he was already a professor, and two years later he headed the department, taught and worked on "Fundamentals of Chemistry".

In 1869 he presented the periodic system of elements, the improvement of which he devoted his whole life. In the table, Mendeleev presented the atomic mass of nine elements, later added a group of noble gases to the vault and left room for the elements that still had to be discovered. In the 90s, Dmitry Mendeleev contributed to the discovery of the phenomenon of radioactivity. The periodic law included evidence of the relationship between the properties of elements and their atomic volume. Now next to each table of chemical elements is a photo of the discoverer.


In 1865-1887 he developed the hydration theory of solutions. In 1872, he began to study the elasticity of gases, two years later he derived the equation of an ideal gas. Among the achievements of Mendeleev of this period are the creation of a scheme for the fractional distillation of petroleum products, the use of tanks and a pipeline. With the assistance of Dmitry Ivanovich, the burning of black gold in furnaces has completely stopped. The scientist's phrase "Burning oil is the same as stoking the stove with banknotes" has become an aphorism.


Geographical research became another area of ​​the scientist's activity. In 1875, Dmitry Ivanovich visited the Paris International Geographic Congress, where he presented his invention to the court - a differential barometer-altimeter. In 1887, the scientist took part in a balloon journey to the upper atmosphere to observe a total solar eclipse.

In 1890, a quarrel with a high-ranking official caused Mendeleev to leave the university. In 1892, a chemist invents a method for producing smokeless powder. At the same time, he was appointed custodian of the Depot of Model Weights and Measures. Here he resumes the prototypes of the pound and the arshin, is engaged in calculations in comparison of Russian and English standards of measures.


At the initiative of Mendeleev in 1899, the metric system of measures was optionally introduced. In 1905, 1906 and 1907, the scientist was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. In 1906, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Mendeleev, but the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences did not confirm this decision.

Mendeleev, who is the author of more than one and a half thousand works, had tremendous scientific authority in the world. For his services, the scientist was awarded numerous scientific titles, Russian and foreign awards, was an honorary member of a number of scientific societies at home and abroad.

Personal life

In his youth, an unpleasant incident happened to Dmitry. Courtship of the girl Sonya, with whom he had known since childhood, ended in an engagement. But the pampered beauty never went to the crown. On the eve of the wedding, when preparations were already in full swing, Sonechka refused to marry. The girl thought that there was no point in changing something if life was good anyway.


Dmitry painfully experienced the breakup with the bride, but life went on as usual. He was distracted from heavy thoughts by a trip abroad, lecturing and faithful friends. Having resumed relations with Feozva Nikitichnaya Leshcheva, whom he had known earlier, he began to meet with her. The girl was 6 years older than Dmitry, but she looked young, so the age difference was imperceptible.


In 1862 they became husband and wife. The first daughter Masha was born in 1863, but lived for only a few months. In 1865, a son, Volodya, was born, three years later, a daughter, Olya. Dmitry Ivanovich was attached to children, but he devoted little time to them, since his life was devoted to scientific activity. In a marriage, entered into on the principle of "endure-fall in love," he was not happy.


In 1877, Dmitry met Anna Ivanovna Popova, who became for him a person capable of supporting him with a clever word in difficult times. The girl turned out to be a creatively gifted person: she studied at the conservatory to play the piano, and later at the Academy of Arts.

Dmitry Ivanovich hosted youth "Fridays", where he met Anna. "Fridays" were transformed into literary and artistic "environments", which were frequented by talented artists and professors. Among them were Nikolai Wagner, Nikolai Beketov and others.


The marriage of Dmitry and Anna took place in 1881. Soon they had a daughter, Lyuba, son Ivan appeared in 1883, twins Vasily and Maria in 1886. In the second marriage, the scientist's personal life developed happily. Later, the poet became the son-in-law of Dmitry Ivanovich, having married the daughter of the scientist Lyubov.

Death

At the beginning of 1907, a meeting between Dmitry Mendeleev and the new Minister of Industry Dmitry Filosofov took place in the Chamber of Weights and Measures. After walking around the room, the scientist fell ill with a cold, which caused pneumonia. But even being seriously ill, Dmitry continued to work on the manuscript "To the Knowledge of Russia", the last words he wrote in which was the phrase:

“In conclusion, I consider it necessary, at least in the most general terms, to express ...”.

Death occurred at five o'clock in the morning on February 2 due to heart paralysis. The grave of Dmitry Mendeleev is located at the Volkovo cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The memory of Dmitry Mendeleev is immortalized by a number of monuments, documentaries, the book “Dmitry Mendeleev. The author of the great law. "

  • Many interesting biographical facts are associated with the name of Dmitry Mendeleev. In addition to being a scientist, Dmitry Ivanovich was engaged in industrial exploration. In the 70s, the oil industry began to flourish in the United States, technologies appeared that made the production of petroleum products cheaper. Russian manufacturers began to suffer losses on the international market due to their inability to compete on price.
  • In 1876, at the request of the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Russian Technical Society, which collaborated with the military department, Mendeleev went overseas to an exhibition of technical innovations. On the spot, the chemist studied innovative principles for the manufacture of kerosene and other petroleum products. And according to the ordered reports of the railway services of Europe, Dmitry Ivanovich tried to decipher the method of making smokeless powder, which he succeeded.

  • Mendeleev had a hobby - making suitcases. The scientist sewed clothes for himself.
  • The scientist is credited with the invention of vodka and the moonshine still. But in fact, Dmitry Ivanovich, in the topic of his doctoral dissertation "Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water", studied the issue of reducing the volume of mixed liquids. In the work of the scientist there was not even a word about vodka. And the 40 ° standard was established in tsarist Russia back in 1843.
  • Invented pressurized compartments for passengers and pilots.
  • There is a legend that the discovery of Mendeleev's periodic table took place in a dream, but this is a myth created by the scientist himself.
  • He rolled cigarettes himself, using expensive tobacco. He said he would never quit smoking.

Discoveries

  • He created a controlled balloon, which became an invaluable contribution to aeronautics.
  • He developed the periodic table of chemical elements, which became a graphic expression of the law established by Mendeleev in the course of work on the "Fundamentals of Chemistry".
  • He created a pycnometer - a device capable of determining the density of a liquid.
  • Discovered the critical boiling point of liquids.
  • Created the equation of state for an ideal gas, establishing the relationship between the absolute temperature of an ideal gas, pressure and molar volume.
  • He opened the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures - the central institution of the Ministry of Finance, in charge of the verification department of the Russian Empire, subordinate to the department of trade.

Dmitry Mendeleev(1834-1907) - a great Russian scientist, chemist, physicist, teacher, public figure. In 1859 he discovered the periodic law, on the basis of which he created the periodic system of elements. He left over 500 scientific publications, including the classic textbook "Fundamentals of Chemistry". In his works, the foundations of the theory of solutions are revealed, an industrial method of fractional separation of oil is proposed. He was the organizer and the first director of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures (1893).

Mendeleev was born into a large family. Mendeleev was born on January 27, 1834. He became 17 and the last child in the family. By the time of his birth, only two brothers and five sisters remained in the family. Father - Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev was the director of the Tobolsk gymnasium and the schools of the Tobolsk district. Mother, Maria Dmitrievna, had her roots in the old, but impoverished merchant family. Ivan Pavlovich died in 1847, leaving the entire burden of responsibility on the shoulders of his wife. Despite this, she, being a strong, educated and intelligent woman, was able to take care of her children and give them a decent education.

Mendeleev studied well at the gymnasium. Actually this is not true. Dmitry Ivanovich hated the routine that reigned in the school walls and studied mediocre. With special zeal, he studied only two subjects - mathematics and physics. Throughout his life, a negative attitude towards the classical school remained in his soul. However, his fate in the Main Pedagogical Institute of St. Petersburg at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, he learned the full power of education. Despite the fact that the first course was given to him with great difficulty, he graduated from the university with a gold medal. Later Dmitry Ivanovich became one of the best teachers in Russia.

Mendeleev stopped teaching at St. Petersburg University due to a conflict with the Minister of Education. In the spring of 1890, student riots broke out at the university. The students worked out a petition addressed to the Minister of Public Education Delyanov. It did not contain any revolutionary ideas, as some suggest, and was purely academic in nature. Mendeleev agreed to hand over the petition to the minister on condition that the students stop the riots that have arisen. However, the minister did not consider the petition, and answered Mendeleev rude and tactless. As a result, riots resumed. Dmitry Ivanovich could not bear such an attitude towards himself and his students and submitted a letter of resignation.

Mendeleev invented vodka. Mendeleev did not invent vodka. He wrote and defended his doctoral dissertation "Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water". Another controversial fact is the statement that Mendeleev proposed to produce vodka with a strength of 40 degrees. In fact, this figure is not traced in his writings. According to some sources, he suggested making vodka with a strength of 38 degrees, considering such a strength to be ideal. However, later this number was rounded up to 40.

The principle of constructing the periodic system was formed by Mendeleev in a dream. This widespread version, frankly speaking, somewhat belittles the merits of the great chemist. According to this version, Mendeleev invented and created a system in one day, and saw part of it during his daytime sleep. According to the memoirs of OE Ozarovskaya, once, when asked about the discovery of the periodic system, Mendeleev replied: "I have been thinking about it for twenty years, but you think: I was sitting and suddenly ... it was ready." These words fully reveal the long-term thought process of creating the periodic system. Even if he saw something in a dream, it only means that the genius's thoughts worked even while his physical component was resting.

There is a lot of mysticism in the creation of the periodic table. Indeed, the brilliant discovery smacks of mysticism. Compiling the periodic table, Mendeleev arranged the elements in ascending order of atomic weight. Already on beryllium, it became clear that according to the scientific data of that time, the table did not work. And then it is really inexplicable: Mendeleev simply changed the atomic weight of beryllium and added an empty cell between titanium and calcium. He did this with almost the third part of the table. As a result, the weight of uranium increased by 4 times. This table not only classified the chemical elements, but also predicted the appearance of unknown elements. The feeling of something divine is created, but how can genius be explained?

Mendeleev was unhappy in his personal life. The first marriage of Dmitry Ivanovich really cannot be called happy. On April 29, 1862, he married Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva. In this marriage, two children were born: son Volodya and daughter Olga. Mendeleev loved children very much, but his relationship with his wife was cold. As a result, she gave him complete freedom, provided that he maintains an official marriage. At 43, Dmitry Ivanovich fell in love with 19-year-old Anyuta Pavlova. This relationship was initially very complicated. Anyuta's father was against it and asked Mendeleev to leave his daughter alone. As a result, Anyuta was sent abroad, where Dmitry Ivanovich, having lost his head, rushed after her. Divorce in those years was a very difficult process. To help an ingenious person arrange his personal life and for the sake of preserving his mental health Mendeleev, his friends N.N. Beketov. and Ilyin N.P. asked the first wife for permission to divorce. After her consent and subsequent divorce, Dmitry Ivanovich had to wait another six years for a new marriage. To avoid this, he bribed the priest by paying him 10 thousand rubles for his marriage with Anyuta (note that his estate cost him only 8 thousand rubles). This marriage turned out to be very successful. The couple got along well and understood each other perfectly. Daughter Lyuba, who appeared in this marriage, became the wife of A. Blok.

Mendeleev was engaged in the manufacture of suitcases. Indeed, despite his employment and achievements in many scientific fields, Dmitry Ivanovich was fond of bookbinding and made suitcases. In this regard, even funny things happened. It is said that when, during the purchase of material in the store, the seller was asked: "Who is this?" He replied: "Do you really not know? This is the famous suitcase master Mendeleev." It is also known that Mendeleev shipped his own clothes, considering the purchased ones uncomfortable.

Mendeleev lost his sight at the end of his life. In 1895, Mendeleev went blind as a result of developing cataracts. During these years, he already led the Chamber of Weights and Measures created by him. It was a difficult time for such an active person. All business documents were read aloud to him, the secretary wrote down orders. Thanks to two operations, successfully carried out by Professor I.V. Kostenich, the cataract was removed and Mendeleev's vision returned.

Mendeleev was engaged only in science. Mendeleev had a wide range of knowledge and could influence the minds of people. He put a lot of effort into shaping the industry and economy of Russia. In his writings, he proposed reforming the community, introducing an artel organization of labor. Dmitry Ivanovich pays special attention to the oil industry. It was for information on this issue that in 1876 he was sent by the government to America. He studied oil fields in Russia, paying particular attention to the Caucasus. Some of his works are devoted specifically to oil refining. In addition, he dealt with the issues of the Donetsk coal basin and its rationalization. Thus, he had a great influence not only in the scientific field, but also in solving the internal economic issues of Russia ...

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth:

Tobolsk, Tobolsk province, Russian Empire

Date of death:

A place of death:

Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

Scientific area:

Chemistry, physics, economics, geology, metrology

Supervisor:

A. A. Voskresensky

Notable students:

D. P. Konovalov, V. A. Gemilian, A. A. Baikov, A. L. Potylitsyn, S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky

Awards and prizes:

Origin

Family and Children

Scientific activity

Periodic law

Gas research

The doctrine of solutions

Aeronautics

Metrology

Pornography

Ural expedition

To the knowledge of Russia

Three services to the Motherland

D. I. Mendeleev and the world

Confession

Awards, academies and societies

Mendeleev congresses

Mendeleev Readings

Nobel epic

"Chemists"

Suitcases D. I. Mendeleev

The legend of the invention of vodka

Monuments to D.I.Mendeleev

Memory of D.I.Mendeleev

Settlements and stations

Geography and Astronomy

Educational establishments

Societies, conventions, magazines

Industrial enterprises

Literature

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev(January 27, 1834, Tobolsk - January 20, 1907, St. Petersburg) - Russian scientist-encyclopedist: chemist, physicochemist, physicist, metrologist, economist, technologist, geologist, meteorologist, teacher, aeronaut, instrument-maker. Professor of St. Petersburg University; Corresponding member of the category "physical" of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Among the most famous discoveries is the periodic law of chemical elements, one of the fundamental laws of the universe, inherent in all natural science.

Biography

Origin

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on January 27 (February 8) 1834 in Tobolsk in the family of Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev (1783-1847), who at that time served as director of the Tobolsk gymnasium and schools of the Tobolsk district. Dmitry was the last seventeenth child in the family. Of the seventeen children, eight died in infancy (for three of them, their parents did not even have time to give names), and one of the daughters, Masha, died at the age of 14 in the mid-1820s in Saratov from consumption. History has preserved the document on the birth of Dmitry Mendeleev - the metric book of the spiritual consistory for 1834, where on a yellowed page in the column about those born in the Tobolsk Epiphany Church it is written: “On January 27, the Tobolsk gymnasium of the director - court councilor Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, from his legal wife Maria Dmitrievna, was born Dmitriy".

In one of the versions of the dedication to the mother of his first major work "Investigations of aqueous solutions by specific gravity" Dmitry Ivanovich will say:

His paternal grandfather, Pavel Maksimovich Sokolov (1751-1808), was a priest in the village of Tikhomandritsy in the Vyshnevolotsk district of the Tver province, located two kilometers from the northern end of Lake Udomlya. Only one of his four sons, Timothy, kept his father's surname. As was customary at that time among the clergy, after graduating from the seminary, the three sons of P.M.Sokolov were given different surnames: Alexander - Tikhomandritsky (according to the name of the village), Vasily - Pokrovsky (according to the parish in which Pavel Maksimovich served), and Ivan , father of Dmitry Ivanovich, in the form of a nickname received the surname of the neighboring landowners Mendeleev (Dmitry Ivanovich himself interpreted its origin as follows: "... given to his father when he exchanged something, like the neighboring landowner Mendeleev changed horses").

After graduating from a theological school in 1804, Dmitry Ivanovich's father Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev entered the philological department of the Main Pedagogical Institute. After graduating from it among the best students in 1807, Ivan Pavlovich was identified as a "teacher of philosophy, fine arts and political economy" in Tobolsk, where in 1809 he married Maria Dmitrievna Kornilyeva. In December 1818 he was appointed director of the schools of the Tambov province. From the summer of 1823 to November 1827, the Mendeleev family lived in Saratov, and later returned to Tobolsk, where Ivan Pavlovich was appointed director of the Tobolsk classical gymnasium. His outstanding qualities of mind, high culture and creativity determined the pedagogical principles that guided him in teaching his subjects. In the year Dmitry was born, Ivan Pavlovich went blind, which forced him to retire. To remove the cataract, he, accompanied by his daughter Catherine, went to Moscow, where, as a result of the successful operation of Dr. Brasset, his sight was restored. But he could no longer return to his previous job, and the family lived on his small pension.

DI Mendeleev's mother came from an old family of Siberian merchants and industrialists. This intelligent and energetic woman has played a special role in the life of the family. Without any education, she took a course at the gymnasium on her own with her brothers. Due to the constrained financial situation that developed due to Ivan Pavlovich's illness, the Mendeleevs moved to the village of Aremzyanskoye, where the small glass factory of Maria Dmitrievna's brother Vasily Dmitrievich Korniliev, who lived in Moscow, was located. M. D. Mendeleeva received the right to manage the factory and after the death of I. P. Mendeleev in 1847, the large family lived on the funds received from her. Dmitry Ivanovich recalled: "There, at a glass factory run by my mother, I got my first impressions of nature, people, and industrial affairs." Noticing the special abilities of her youngest son, she managed to find the strength to leave her native Siberia forever, leaving Tobolsk to give Dmitry the opportunity to get a higher education. In the year her son graduated from the gymnasium, Maria Dmitrievna liquidated all cases in Siberia, and with Dmitry and her youngest daughter Elizaveta, she left for Moscow to assign the young man to the university.

Childhood

DI Mendeleev's childhood coincided with the stay of the exiled Decembrists in Siberia. A. M. Muravyov, P. N. Svistunov, M. A. Fonvizin lived in the Tobolsk province. Dmitry Ivanovich's sister, Olga, became the wife of a former member of the Southern Society N.V. Basargin, and for a long time they lived in Yalutorovsk next to I.I.

Also, his uncle V.D.Korniliev had a great influence on the worldview of the future scientist, the Mendeleevs lived with him repeatedly and for a long time during their stay in Moscow. Vasily Dmitrievich was the manager of the Trubetskoy princes who lived on Pokrovka, like V.D.Korniliev; and his house was often visited by many representatives of the cultural environment, among whom literary evenings, or even for no reason at all, were easily attended by writers: FN Glinka, S. P. Shevyrev, I. I. Dmitriev, M. P. Pogodin, E. A. Baratynsky, N. V. Gogol, Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, the poet's father, also happened to be a guest; artists P. A. Fedotov, N. A. Ramazanov; scientists: N.F. Pavlov, I.M.Snegirev, P.N.Kudryavtsev. In 1826, Korniliev and his wife, daughter of Commander Billings, received Alexander Pushkin, who had returned to Moscow from exile, at Pokrovka.

Preserved information that DI Mendeleev once saw NV Gogol in the house of the Kornilievs.

For all that, Dmitry Ivanovich remained the same boy as most of his peers. The son of Dmitry Ivanovich Ivan Mendeleev recalls that once, when his father was unwell, he told him: "He breaks his whole body like after our school fight on the Tobolsk bridge."

It should be noted that among the teachers of the gymnasium, a Siberian who taught Russian literature and literature stood out, the later famous Russian poet Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov, since 1844 - an inspector of the Tobolsk gymnasium, as once his teacher Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev. Later, the author of The Little Humpbacked Horse and Dmitry Ivanovich were destined to become relatives to some extent.

Family and Children

Dmitry Ivanovich was married twice. In 1862 he married Feozva Nikitichnaya Leshcheva, a native of Tobolsk (stepdaughter of the famous author of "The Little Humpbacked Horse" Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov). His wife (Fiza, his given name) was 6 years older than him. In this marriage, three children were born: daughter Maria (1863) - she died in infancy, son Volodya (1865-1898) and daughter Olga (1868-1950). At the end of 1878, 43-year-old Dmitry Mendeleev passionately fell in love with 23-year-old Anna Ivanovna Popova (1860-1942), the daughter of a Don Cossack from Uryupinsk. In his second marriage, D. I. Mendeleev had four children: Lyubov, Ivan (1883-1936) and the twins Maria and Vasily. At the beginning of the 21st century. of Mendeleev's descendants, only Alexander is alive, the grandson of his daughter Maria.

DI Mendeleev was the father-in-law of the Russian poet Alexander Blok, who was married to his daughter Lyubov.

DI Mendeleev was the uncle of the Russian scientist Mikhail Yakovlevich (professor-hygienist) and Fyodor Yakovlevich (professor-physicist) Kapustin, who were the sons of his elder sister Ekaterina Ivanovna Mendeleeva (Kapustina).

About the Japanese granddaughter of Dmitry Ivanovich - in an article dedicated to the work of B.N.Rzhonsnitsky.

Chronicle of the scientist's creative life

1841-1859

  • 1841 - entered the Tobolsk gymnasium.
  • 1855 - graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg.
  • 1855 - senior teacher of natural sciences at the Simferopol men's gymnasium. At the request of the St. Petersburg doctor NF Zdekauer in mid-September, Dmitry Mendeleev was examined by NI Pirogov, who stated that the patient was in a satisfactory condition: "You will survive both of us."
  • 1855-1856 - senior teacher at the gymnasium at the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa.
  • 1856 - brilliantly defended his thesis "for the right to lecture" - "The structure of silica compounds" (opponents A. A. Voskresensky and M. V. Skoblikov), successfully delivered the introductory lecture "The structure of silicate compounds"; at the end of January, a separate publication in St. Petersburg published D. I. Mendeleev's Ph.D. thesis "Isomorphism in connection with other relations of the crystalline form to the composition"; On October 10, she was awarded a master's degree in chemistry.
  • 1857 - January 9, approved as a privat-docent of the Imperial St. Petersburg University in the Department of Chemistry.
  • 1857-1890 - taught at the Imperial St. Petersburg University (from 1865 - professor of chemical technology, from 1867 - professor of general chemistry) - lectures on chemistry in the 2nd cadet corps; at the same time in 1863-1872 he was a professor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, in 1863-1872 he headed the chemical laboratory of the institute, also taught at the same time at the Nikolaev Engineering Academy and College; - at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers.
  • 1859-1861 - was on a scientific trip to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg period (1859-1861)

Having received permission in January 1859 for a business trip to Europe "for improvement in the sciences," D.I. Petersburg.

He had a clear research plan - a theoretical consideration of the close relationship between the chemical and physical properties of substances based on the study of the cohesion forces of particles, which should have been the data obtained experimentally in the course of measurements at various temperatures of the surface tension of liquids - capillarity.

A month later, after getting acquainted with the capabilities of several scientific centers, preference was given to the Heidelberg University, where outstanding naturalists work: R. Bunsen, G. Kirchhoff, G. Helmholtz, E. Erlenmeyer and others. There is information that later D. I. Mendeleev had a meeting with J. W. Gibbs in Heidelberg. The equipment of R. Bunsen's laboratory did not allow conducting such "delicate experiments as capillary", and D.I. In Bonn, the "famous glass maestro" G. Gessler gives him lessons, making about 20 thermometers and "inimitably good devices for determining the specific gravity." He orders special cathetometers and microscopes from the famous Parisian mechanics Perrault and Salleron.

The works of this period are of great importance for understanding the methodology of large-scale theoretical generalization, to which well-prepared and constructed subtle private studies are subordinated, and which will be a characteristic feature of its universe. This is a theoretical experiment of "molecular mechanics", the initial values ​​of which were assumed to be the mass, volume and force of interaction of particles (molecules). The scientist's workbooks show that he was consistently looking for an analytical expression that demonstrates the relationship between the composition of a substance with these three parameters. D. I. Mendeleev's assumption about the function of surface tension associated with the structure and composition of the substance allows us to speak about his foreseeing "parachora", but the data from the middle of the 19th century were not able to become the basis for the logical conclusion of this study - D. I. Mendeleev had to abandon theoretical generalization.

Currently, "molecular mechanics", the main provisions of which DI Mendeleev tried to formulate, has only historical significance, meanwhile, these researches of the scientist allow us to observe the relevance of his views, which corresponded to the advanced concepts of the era, and gained general distribution only after the International Chemical Congress in Karlsruhe (1860).

In Heidelberg, Mendeleev had an affair with the actress Agnes Feuchtmann, to whom he later sent money for the child, although he was not sure of his paternity.

1860-1907

  • 1860 - September 3-5 takes part in the first International Chemical Congress in Karlsruhe.
  • 1865 - January 31 (February 12) at a meeting of the Council of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University, he defended his doctoral dissertation "On the combination of alcohol with water", which laid the foundations of his theory of solutions.
  • 1876 ​​- December 29 (January 10), 1877 he was elected a corresponding member in the category of "physics" of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, in 1880 he was promoted to academician, but on November 11 (23) he was blackballed by the German majority of the Academy, which caused a sharp public protest.
  • He took part in the development of technologies launched in 1879, the first Russian plant for the production of engine oils in the village of Konstantinovsky in the Yaroslavl province, which now bears his name.
  • 1880s - Dmitry Ivanovich again studies solutions, publishes his work "Investigation of aqueous solutions by specific gravity".
  • 1880-1888 - took an active part in the development of a project for the creation and construction of the first Siberian University in Russian Asia in Tomsk, for which he repeatedly advised the head of the construction committee of TSU, Professor V. M. Florinsky. It was planned as the first rector of this university, but for a number of family reasons in 1888 he did not go to Tomsk. Several years later, he actively helped in the creation of the Tomsk Technological Institute and the formation of chemical science there.
  • 1890 - left St. Petersburg University due to a conflict with the Minister of Education, who, during the student unrest, refused to accept the students' petition from Mendeleev.
  • 1892 - Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev - scientist-keeper of the Depot of Model Weights and Scales, which in 1893, on his initiative, was transformed into the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures (now the D.I.Mendeleev All-Russian Research Institute of Metrology).
  • 1893 - worked at the P.K.Ushkov chemical plant (later named after L. Ya. Karpov; Bondyuzhsky settlement, now Mendeleevsk) using the plant's production base to obtain smokeless gunpowder (pyrocollodia). Subsequently, he noted that having visited "a lot of Western European chemical plants, he was proud to see that he could not only not yield, but also surpass foreign ones in many respects, created by a Russian leader."
  • 1899 - heads the Ural expedition, which implies the stimulation of the industrial and economic development of the region.
  • 1900 - participates in the World Exhibition in Paris; he wrote the first in Russian - a large article on synthetic fibers "Viscose at the Paris Exhibition", which noted the importance of the development of their industry for Russia.
  • 1903 - the first chairman of the State Examination Commission of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, in the creation of which the scientist took an active part. 60 years later Ivan Fedorovich Ponomarev (1882-1982), among others, remembered about DI Mendeleev's visit to the Institute during the defense of his first theses.

Member of many academies of sciences and scientific societies. One of the founders of the Russian Physicochemical Society (1868 - chemical, and 1872 - physical) and its third president (since 1932 transformed into the All-Union Chemical Society, which was then named after him, now - the Russian Chemical Society named after D.I. Mendeleev).

DI Mendeleev died on January 20 (February 2) 1907 in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Literatorskie Mostki of the Volkovskoye cemetery.

He left more than 1,500 works, including the classic "Fundamentals of Chemistry" (parts 1-2, 1869-1871, 13th ed., 1947) - the first harmonious exposition of inorganic chemistry.

The 101st chemical element, Mendelevium, is named after Mendeleev.

Scientific activity

DI Mendeleev is the author of fundamental research in chemistry, physics, metrology, meteorology, economics, fundamental works on aeronautics, agriculture, chemical technology, public education and other works closely related to the needs of the development of the productive forces of Russia.

DI Mendeleev investigated (in 1854-1856) the phenomenon of isomorphism, revealing the relationship between the crystalline form and the chemical composition of compounds, as well as the dependence of the properties of elements on the value of their atomic volumes.

Discovered in 1860 "the temperature of absolute boiling of liquids", or critical temperature.

On December 16, 1860, he wrote from Heidelberg to the trustee of the St. Petersburg educational district ID Delyanov: "... the main subject of my studies is physical chemistry."

In 1859 he designed a pycnometer - a device for determining the density of a liquid. Created in 1865-1887 the hydration theory of solutions. Developed ideas about the existence of compounds of variable composition.

Investigating gases, Mendeleev found in 1874 the general equation of state of an ideal gas, including as a particular the dependence of the state of the gas on temperature, discovered in 1834 by the physicist B.P.E. Clapeyron (the Clapeyron - Mendeleev equation).

In 1877, Mendeleev put forward a hypothesis for the origin of oil from heavy metal carbides, which, however, is not accepted by most scientists today; proposed the principle of fractional distillation in oil refining.

In 1880 he put forward the idea of ​​underground coal gasification. He was engaged in the chemicalization of agriculture, promoted the use of mineral fertilizers, irrigation of arid lands. Together with I. M. Cheltsov, he took part in the development of smokeless powder in 1890-1892. He is the author of a number of works in metrology. He created an accurate theory of scales, developed the best designs of the rocker arm and lock, proposed the most accurate weighing techniques.

At one time, D.I.Mendeleev's interests were close to mineralogy, his collection of minerals is carefully kept and now in the Museum of the Department of Mineralogy of St. Petersburg University, and the druse of rock crystal from his table is one of the best exhibits in a quartz display case. He placed the drawing of this druse in the first edition of General Chemistry (1903). DI Mendeleev's student work was devoted to isomorphism in minerals.

Periodic law

Working on the work "Fundamentals of Chemistry", DI Mendeleev discovered in February 1869 one of the fundamental laws of nature - the periodic law of chemical elements.

On March 6 (18), 1869, the famous report of D. I. Mendeleev "The relationship of properties with the atomic weight of elements" was read by N. A. Menshutkin at a meeting of the Russian Chemical Society. In the same year, this message in German appeared in the journal "Zeitschrift für Chemie", and in 1871 in the journal "Annalen der Chemie" was carried out an expanded publication of D. I. Mendeleev dedicated to his discovery - "Die periodische Gesetzmässigkeit der Elemente" (Periodic regularity of chemical elements).

Individual scientists in a number of countries, especially in Germany, consider Lothar Meyer to be a co-author of the discovery. The essential difference between these systems lies in the fact that L. Meyer's table is one of the variants of the classification of chemical elements known by that time; the periodicity revealed by D.I.

Without giving an idea of ​​the structure of the atom, the periodic law, nevertheless, brings this problem closely, and its solution was undoubtedly found thanks to him - it was this system that the researchers were guided by, linking the factors that he identified with other physical characteristics of interest to them. In 1984, Academician VI Spitsyn writes: "... The first ideas about the structure of atoms and the nature of chemical valence, developed at the beginning of our century, were based on the regularities of the properties of elements established with the help of the periodic law."

German scientist, editor-in-chief of the fundamental textbook "Anorganicum" - a combined course in inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry, which has withstood more than ten editions, Academician L. Colditz interprets the features of Mendeleev's discovery in this way, comparing the highly convincing results of his work with the works of others researchers looking for similar patterns:

Developing the ideas of periodicity in 1869-1871, D. I. Mendeleev introduced the concept of the place of an element in the periodic table as a set of its properties in comparison with the properties of other elements. On this basis, in particular, relying on the results of studying the sequence of changes in glass-forming oxides, he corrected the atomic masses of 9 elements (beryllium, indium, uranium, etc.). He predicted existence in 1870, calculated the atomic masses and described the properties of three elements that were not yet discovered then - "ekaaluminium" (discovered in 1875 and named gallium), "ekabora" (discovered in 1879 and called scandium) and "ekasilicia" (discovered in 1885 and named Germany). Then he predicted the existence of eight more elements, including "dvitellur" - polonium (discovered in 1898), "ekaiod" - astatine (discovered in 1942-1943), "ekamarganese" - technetium (discovered in 1937), "dvimarganese "- rhenium (opened in 1925)," ecatsia "- France (opened in 1939).

In 1900, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev and William Ramsay came to the conclusion that it was necessary to include a special, zero group of noble gases in the periodic system of elements.

Specific volumes. Chemistry of silicates and glassy state

This section of D.I.Mendeleev's work, without expressing the results of the scale of natural science as a whole, nevertheless, like everything in his research practice, being an integral part and a milestone on the way to them, and in some cases - their foundation, is extremely important and to understand the development of these studies. As will be seen from what follows, it is closely related to the fundamental components of the scientist's worldview, covering spheres from isomorphism and "fundamentals of chemistry" to the basis of the periodic law, from comprehending the nature of solutions to views concerning the structure of substances.

The first works of DI Mendeleev in 1854 were chemical analyzes of silicates. These were the studies of "orthite from Finland" and "pyroxene from Ruskiala in Finland", about the third analysis of the mineral clay rock - umber - there is information only in the message of S. S. Kutorga in the Russian Geographical Society. DI Mendeleev returned to the issues of analytical chemistry of silicates in connection with master's examinations - the written answer concerns the analysis of silicate containing lithium. This small series of works sparked the researcher's interest in isomorphism: the scientist compares the composition of orthite with the compositions of other similar minerals and comes to the conclusion that such a comparison makes it possible to construct an isomorphic series that varies in chemical composition.

In May 1856 D. I. Mendeleev, returning to St. Petersburg from Odessa, prepared a dissertation work under the generalized title "Specific Volumes" - a multifaceted study, a kind of trilogy devoted to topical issues of chemistry in the middle of the 19th century. The large volume of work (about 20 printed sheets) did not allow to publish it in full. Only the first part was published, entitled, like the entire dissertation, "Specific Volumes"; from the second part, only a fragment was later printed in the form of an article "On the connection of some physical properties of bodies with chemical reactions"; the third part, during the life of D. I. Mendeleev, was not fully published - it was presented in an abridged form in 1864 in the fourth issue of the "Technical Encyclopedia" devoted to glass production. Through the interconnection of the issues covered in the work, D.I.Mendeleev consistently approached the formulation and solution of the most significant problems in his scientific work: identifying patterns in the classification of elements, building a system that characterizes compounds through their composition, structure and properties, creating the prerequisites for the formation of a mature theory of solutions ...

In the first part of this work by D.I.Mendeleev, a detailed critical analysis of the literature on the issue, he expressed an original idea about the relationship between the molecular weight and the volume of gaseous bodies. The scientist derived a formula for calculating the molecular weight of a gas, that is, for the first time, the formulation of the Avogadro-Gerard law was given. Later, the outstanding Russian physicochemist E.V. Biron wrote: “As far as I know, D.I. ".

Based on the colossal factual material in the section "Specific volumes and composition of silica compounds", DI Mendeleev comes to a broad generalization. Not adhering to, unlike many researchers (G. Kopp, I. Schroeder, etc.), the mechanistic interpretation of the volumes of compounds as the sum of the volumes of their constituent elements, but paying tribute to the results obtained by these scientists, D. I. Mendeleev is looking for non-formal quantitative regularities in volumes, but tries to establish a connection between the quantitative ratios of volumes and the totality of the qualitative characteristics of a substance. Thus, he comes to the conclusion that volume, like a crystalline form, is a criterion for the similarity and difference of elements and the compounds formed by them, and takes a step towards the creation of a system of elements, directly indicating that the study of volumes “can serve the benefit of the natural classification of mineral and organic bodies ".

Of particular interest is the part called "On the composition of silica compounds." With exceptional depth and thoroughness, D.I. Scientists have established a connection between silicates as compounds of the (MeO) x (SiO) x type and "undefined" compounds of other types, in particular, solutions, which was expressed by the correct interpretation of the glassy state.

It was with the observation of glass-making processes that DI Mendeleev's path in science began. Perhaps it was this fact that played a decisive role in his choice, in any case, this topic, directly related to the chemistry of silicates, in one form or another naturally comes into contact with many of his other investigations.

The place of silicates in nature is laconic, but defined with exhaustive clarity by D.I.Mendeleev:

This phrase indicates both the understanding by scientists of the primary utilitarian value of silicate materials, the oldest and most common in practice, and the complexity of the chemistry of silicates; therefore, the scientist's interest in this class of substances, in addition to the known practical value, was associated with the development of the most important concept of chemistry - a chemical compound, with the creation of a systematics of compounds, with the solution of the question of the relationship between the concepts: chemical compound (definite and indefinite) - solution. To understand the importance and scientific significance of the very formulation of the question, its relevance after more than a century, it is enough to cite the words of one of the specialists in the field of silicate chemistry, Academician M.M. anniversary of DI Mendeleev: “... Until today, there are no general definitions that would establish a clear relationship between the essence of the concepts of“ compound ”and“ solution ”. ... As soon as atoms and molecules interact with each other with an increase in their concentration in a gas, not to mention condensed phases, the question immediately arises as to what level of interaction energy and at what numerical ratio between interacting particles can be separated from each other another concept of “chemical combination of particles” or their “mutual solution”: there are no objective criteria for this, they have not yet been developed, despite the countless number of works on this topic and seeming simplicity. "

The study of glass helped D.I.Mendeleev to understand more deeply the nature of silicic acid compounds and to see some important features of a chemical compound in general on this peculiar substance.

DI Mendeleev devoted about 30 works to the themes of glass making, the chemistry of silicates and the glassy state.

Gas research

This topic in the work of D.I. Since the properties of the elements were periodically dependent on atomic weights and masses, the researcher thought it possible to shed light on this problem by elucidating the causes of gravitational forces and by studying the properties of the medium transmitting them.

The concept of "world ether" had a great influence on the possible solution of this problem in the 19th century. It was assumed that the "ether" filling interplanetary space is a medium that transmits light, heat and gravity. The study of highly rarefied gases seemed to be a possible means of proving the existence of the named substance, when the properties of the "ordinary" substance would no longer be able to hide the properties of the "ether".

One of the hypotheses of DI Mendeleev was that the specific state of air gases at high rarefaction could be "ether" or some gas with a very low weight. DI Mendeleev wrote on an imprint from "Fundamentals of Chemistry", on the periodic table of 1871: "Ether is the lightest of all, a million times"; and in the workbook of 1874, the scientist expresses even more clearly the train of thought: "At zero pressure, air has a certain density, this is ether!" Nevertheless, among his publications of this time, such specific considerations were not expressed ( D.I. Mendeleev. An attempt at a chemical understanding of the ether. 1902).

In the context of assumptions related to the behavior of a highly rarefied gas (inert - "the lightest chemical element") in outer space, D. I. Mendeleev relies on information obtained by astronomer A. A. Belopolsky: me the following results of the latest research, including the city of Belopolsky. " And then he directly refers to this data in his conclusions.

With all the hypothetical orientation of the initial premises of these studies, the main and most important result in the field of physics, obtained thanks to them by D.I.Mendeleev, was the derivation of the ideal gas equation containing the universal gas constant. Also very important, but somewhat premature, was the introduction of a thermodynamic temperature scale proposed by D.I.Mendeleev.

Scientists have also chosen the right direction for describing the properties of real gases. The virial expansions used by him correspond to the first approximations in the equations known now for real gases.

In the section related to the study of gases and liquids, D.I. Mendeleev made 54 works.

The doctrine of solutions

In 1905, D. I. Mendeleev said: “In total, more than four subjects made up my name, the periodic law, the study of the elasticity of gases, understanding solutions as an association and“ Fundamentals of Chemistry ”. This is my wealth. It was not taken away from anyone, but produced by me ... ”.

Throughout his scientific life, D. I. Mendeleev did not weaken his interest in the "mortar" topic. His most significant research in this area dates back to the mid-1860s, and the most important to the 1880s. Nevertheless, the scientist's publications show that in other periods of his scientific career he did not interrupt research that contributed to the creation of the basis for his theory of solutions. The concept of D.I.Mendeleev evolved from very contradictory and imperfect initial ideas about the nature of this phenomenon, inextricably linked with the development of his ideas in other directions, first of all - with the theory of chemical compounds.

D.I. Mendeleev showed that a correct understanding of solutions is impossible without taking into account their chemistry, their relationship to certain compounds (the absence of a line between them and solutions) and complex chemical equilibrium in solutions - its main significance lies in the development of these three inextricably linked aspects. However, D.I. Mendeleev himself never called his scientific positions in the field of solutions a theory - not he himself, but his opponents and followers so called what he called "understanding" and "representation", and the works of this direction - "an attempt to illuminate hypothetical view of the entire body of data on solutions "-" ... the theory of solutions is still far away "; The scientist saw the main obstacle in its formation “from the side of the theory of the liquid state of matter”.

It is worth noting that, developing this direction, D.I. At a certain temperature, which the experimenter called the "absolute boiling point", the liquid silicon chloride (SiCl4) heated in a paraffin bath in a sealed volume "disappears", turning into steam. In an article devoted to the study, DI Mendeleev reports that at the absolute boiling point, the complete transition of liquid to vapor is accompanied by a decrease in surface tension and heat of vaporization to zero. This work is the first major achievement of the scientist.

It is also important that the theory of electrolyte solutions acquired a satisfactory direction only after accepting the ideas of D.I.

DI Mendeleev's solutions and hydrates are devoted to 44 works.

Commission for the consideration of mediumistic phenomena

Having had many supporters in Western Europe and America in the middle of the 19th century, by the 1870s they gained some distribution in the Russian cultural environment - views implying a search for a solution to the problems of the unknown in an appeal to vulgar forms of mysticism and esotericism, in particular - to the phenomena called for some time now paranormal, and in an ordinary, devoid of scientific lexicon - spiritualism, spiritualism or mediumship.

The very process of a spiritualistic session is presented by the adepts of these movements as a moment of restoration of the previously disturbed temporary unity of matter and energy, and thus their separate existence is allegedly confirmed. DI Mendeleev wrote about the main "movers" of interest in this kind of speculation by the contact of the intelligible and the subconscious.

Among the leaders of the circle of those inclined to the legitimacy of such an understanding of the world order were: the outstanding Russian chemist A.M. Butlerov (at that time - a supporter of the theory of the "fourth" state of matter, an associate of the convinced spiritualist W. Crookes), the zoologist N.P. Wagner and a well-known publicist A.N. Aksakov.

Initially, an attempt to expose spiritualism was undertaken by Academician P. L. Chebyshev and Professor M. F. Zion, brother and collaborator of the famous physician I. F. Zion, one of I. P. Pavlov's teachers (sessions with the "medium" Jung). In the mid-1870s, on the initiative of D.I.Mendeleev, the still young Russian Physical Society sharply criticized spiritualism. On May 6, 1875, it was decided "to create a commission to check all the 'phenomena' accompanying seances."

Experiments on studying the actions of "mediums", the Petty brothers and Mrs. Kleyer, sent by W. Crookes at the request of A. N. Aksakov, began in the spring of 1875. The opponents were A.M.Butlerov, N.P. Wagner and A.N. Aksakov. The first meeting - May 7 (chaired by F. F. Ewald), the second - May 8. After that, the work of the commission was interrupted until the fall - the third meeting took place only on October 27, and on October 28, the teacher, figure of the Moscow Duma Fyodor Fedorovich Evald, who was a member of the first composition of the commission, writes to D. I. Mendeleev: “... reading books compiled by Mr. A N. Aksakov and other such delusions produced on me a decisive disgust for everything related to spiritualism, mediumship too "- he withdraws from participation. To replace him in the work of the commission, despite the great pedagogical workload, physicists D.K.Bobylev and D.A.Lachinov were included.

At different stages of the commission's work (spring 1875, autumn - winter 1875-1876), it included: D.K.Bobylev, I.I.Borgman, N.P.Bulygin, N.A. Gezekhus, N. G. Egorov, A. S. Yelenev, S. I. Kovalevsky, K. D. Kraevich, D. Lachinov, D. Mendeleev, N. P. Petrov, F. F. Petrushevsky, P. P. Fan-der- Fleet, A.I. Khmolovsky, F.F. Ewald.

The commission used a number of methods and technological techniques that excluded the use of physical laws for manipulations by "magnetizers": pyramidal and manometric tables, elimination of external factors that prevent a full-fledged perception of the experimental setting, allowing for the strengthening of illusions, distortion of the perception of reality. The result of the commission's activities was the identification of a number of special misleading techniques, the exposure of obvious deception, the statement of the absence of any effects under the correct conditions that prevent an ambiguous interpretation of the phenomenon - spiritualism was recognized as a consequence of the use of psychological factors by "mediums" to control the minds of ordinary people - superstition ...

The work of the commission and the controversy around the subject of its consideration caused a lively response not only in periodicals, which generally took the side of sanity. DI Mendeleev, however, in the final edition warns journalists against a frivolous, one-sided and incorrect interpretation of the role and influence of superstition. P. D. Boborykin, N. S. Leskov, many others and, above all, F. M. Dostoevsky gave their assessment. Critical remarks of the latter have more to do not with spiritualism as such, of which he himself was an opponent, but with the rationalistic views of D. I. Mendeleev. FM Dostoevsky points out: "with a 'willing to believe', a new weapon can be given to the will". At the beginning of the 21st century, this reproach remains valid: “I will not go deep into the description of the techniques that we read in Mendeleev's scientific treatises ... Having applied some of them experimentally, we found that we can establish a special connection with some incomprehensible to us but completely real creatures. "

Summing up, DI Mendeleev points to the difference rooted in the initial moral position of the researcher: in “conscientious delusion” or deliberate deception. It is precisely moral principles that he puts at the forefront in a general assessment of all aspects and of the phenomenon itself, its interpretation and, first of all, the convictions of the scientist, independent of his direct activity - and should he have them at all? In response to a letter from the “Mother of the Family”, who accused the scientist of implanting coarse materialism, he declares that “he is ready to serve, in one way or another, a means to reduce the number of coarse materialists and bigots, and there would be more people who truly understand what is between the primordial unity exists by science and moral principles ”.

In the work of D.I. the fact that it lies at this intersection is also shown by the publication summarizing the activities of the commission. While the study of gases indirectly, through hypotheses about the "world ether", for example, is related to the "hypothetical" factors accompanying the main theme of the measures under consideration (including air fluctuations), an indication of the connection with meteorology and aeronautics may entail a reasonable bewilderment. However, it was not by chance that they appeared in this list in the form of related topics, “being present” already on the title page of “Materials”, and the words from D.I.

Aeronautics

Dealing with the issues of aeronautics, DI Mendeleev, firstly, continues his research in the field of gases and meteorology, and secondly, he develops the themes of his works that come into contact with the themes of environmental resistance and shipbuilding.

In 1875, he developed a project of a stratospheric balloon with a volume of about 3600 m³ with a hermetic gondola, implying the possibility of ascent into the upper atmosphere (the first such flight into the stratosphere was carried out by O. Picard only in 1924). DI Mendeleev also designed a controlled aerostat with engines. In 1878, a scientist, while in France, made an ascent on a tethered balloon by Henri Giffard.

In the summer of 1887, D. I. Mendeleev made his famous flight. This became possible thanks to the mediation of the Russian Technical Society in terms of equipment. An important role in the preparation of this event was played by V. I. Sreznevsky and, to a special extent, the inventor and aeronaut S. K. Dzhevetsky.

D. I. Mendeleev, talking about this flight, explains why the RTO turned to him with such an initiative: “The technical society, having invited me to make observations from a balloon during a total solar eclipse, wanted, of course, to serve knowledge and saw that it answered the concepts and role of balloons that I had previously developed. "

The circumstances of preparation for the flight once again speak of D.I. it is only useless, but downright harmful. It will instill in beginners the deadening spirit of classicism, scholasticism, kill their living striving "). DI Mendeleev was very fascinated by the opportunity to observe the solar corona for the first time from a balloon during a total eclipse. He proposed to use hydrogen, not luminous gas, to fill the ball, which made it possible to rise to a great height, which expanded the possibilities of observation. And here again the collaboration with D. A. Lachinov, who at about the same time developed an electrolytic method for producing hydrogen, to the wide possibilities of using which D. I. Mendeleev points out in the "Fundamentals of Chemistry", again affected.

The natural scientist assumed that the study of the solar corona should provide a key to understanding issues related to the origin of the worlds. From cosmogonic hypotheses, his attention was attracted by the idea that appeared at that time about the origin of bodies from cosmic dust: “Then the sun with all its power itself turns out to be dependent on invisibly small bodies rushing in space, and the entire power of the solar system is drawn from this infinite source and depends only on from the organization, from the addition of these smallest units into a complex individual system. Then the "crown", perhaps, is a condensed mass of these small cosmic bodies, which form the sun and support its strength. " In comparison with another hypothesis - about the origin of the bodies of the solar system from the matter of the sun - he expresses the following considerations: verified. One must only not be content with one that has already been established and recognized, one must not be petrified in it, one must study further and deeper, more precisely and in more detail all the phenomena that can help clarify these fundamental questions. The crown will certainly help this study in many ways. "

This flight caught the attention of the general public. The Ministry of War provided the "Russian" balloon with a volume of 700 m³. Ilya E. Repin arrives in Boblovo on March 6, and follows DI Mendeleev and KD Kraevich to Klin. These days he made sketches.

On August 7, at the launch site - a vacant lot in the north-west of the city, near the Yamskaya Sloboda, despite the early hour, huge crowds of spectators gather. Aeronaut pilot A.M. Kovanko was supposed to fly with D.I. At the insistence of D.I.Mendeleev, his companion left the basket, having previously read the scientist a lecture on controlling the ball, showing him what to do and how to do it. Mendeleev went on the flight alone. Subsequently, he commented on his determination:

... A significant role in my decision was played ... by the consideration that we, professors and scientists in general, are usually thought of everywhere, that we say, we advise, but we do not know how to master practical matters, which we, as Shchedrin generals, always we need a man to do the job, otherwise everything falls out of our hands. I wanted to demonstrate that this opinion, perhaps fair in some other respects, is unfair in relation to natural scientists who spend their whole life in the laboratory, on excursions and in general in the study of nature. We absolutely must be able to master the practice, and it seemed to me that it would be useful to demonstrate so that everyone would someday know the truth instead of prejudice. Here, however, an excellent opportunity presented itself for this.

The balloon could not rise as high as required by the conditions of the proposed experiments - the sun was partially obscured by clouds. In the researcher's diary, the first entry falls on 6h 55m - 20 minutes after takeoff. The scientist notes the aneroid readings - 525 mm and the air temperature - 1.2 °: “It smells like gas. On top of the cloud. Clearly around (that is, at the level of the balloon). A cloud hid the sun. Already three miles. I will wait for self-lowering. ”At 7 hours 10-12 m: height 3.5 versts, pressure 510-508 mm on aneroid. The balloon covered a distance of about 100 km, rising to a maximum height of up to 3.8 km; having flown over Taldom at 8:45 am, at about 9 am it began to descend. A successful landing took place between Kalyazin and Pereslavl-Zalessky, near the village of Spas-Ugol (the estate of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin). Already on the ground, at 9:20 am, D.I. During the flight, the scientist eliminated the malfunction of the control of the main valve of the balloon, which showed a good knowledge of the practical side of aeronautics.

The opinion was expressed that the successful flight was a coincidence of happy accidental circumstances - the aeronaut could not agree with this - repeating the well-known words of A. V. Suvorov “happiness, God have mercy, happiness,” he adds: “Yes, we need something besides him. It seems to me that the most important thing, besides the launching tools - valve, hydron, ballast and anchor, is a calm and conscientious attitude to business. As beauty responds, if not always, then most often to a high degree of purposefulness, so good luck - to a calm and completely judicious attitude to the goal and means ”.

The International Aeronautics Committee in Paris awarded DI Mendeleev a medal of the French Academy of Aerostatic Meteorology for this flight.

The scientist assesses this experience as follows: “If my flight from Klin, which added nothing in relation to the knowledge of the crown, would serve to arouse interest in meteorological observations from balloons inside Russia, if it, in addition, would increase the general confidence in the fact that even a beginner can comfortably fly in balloons, then I would not be in vain to fly through the air on August 7, 1887 ”.

DI Mendeleev showed great interest in aircraft heavier than air, he was interested in one of the first airplanes with propellers invented by AF Mozhaisky. In the fundamental monograph by DI Mendeleev, devoted to the problems of resistance of the environment, there is a section on aeronautics; in general, scientists have written 23 articles on this topic, combining in his work the indicated direction of research with the development of study in the field of meteorology.

Shipbuilding. Development of the Far North

As a development of research on gases and liquids, DI Mendeleev's works on environmental resistance and aeronautics are continued in works devoted to shipbuilding and the development of Arctic navigation.

This part of D.I.Mendeleev's scientific work is determined to the greatest extent by his collaboration with Admiral S.O. active participation in this matter at all stages of its implementation - from the solution of design, technical and organizational measures - to construction, and directly related to the testing of ship models, after the pool was finally built in 1894. DI Mendeleev enthusiastically supported S.O. Makarov's efforts to create a large Arctic icebreaker.

When, at the end of the 1870s, D.I. Mendeleev was studying the resistance of the environment, he suggested building an experimental pool for testing ships. But only in 1893, at the request of the head of the Marine Ministry N. M. Chikhachev, the scientist draws up a note "On the basin for testing ship models" and "Draft regulations on the basin", where he interprets the prospect of creating a basin as part of a scientific and technical program, implying not only tasks of shipbuilding, military-technical and commercial profile, but also giving the opportunity to carry out scientific research.

Studying solutions, D.I. Mendeleev in the late 1880s - early 1890s showed great interest in the results of studies of the density of seawater, which were obtained by S.O. Makarov in a circumnavigation of the corvette "Vityaz" in 1887-1889 years. These valuable data were extremely highly appreciated by DI Mendeleev, who included them in the summary table of the density of water at different temperatures, which he cites in his article "Change in the density of water upon heating."

Continuing the interaction with S.O. Makarov, begun during the development of gunpowders for naval artillery, D.I.Mendeleev joined the organization of an icebreaking expedition to the Arctic Ocean.

The idea of ​​this expedition put forward by S.O. Makarov found a response from D.I. and the Far North.

The initiatives were supported by S. Yu. Witte, and in the fall of 1897 the government made a decision on the allocation of the construction of an icebreaker. DI Mendeleev was included in the commission that dealt with issues related to the construction of an icebreaker, of several projects of which the one proposed by an English firm was preferred. The world's first Arctic icebreaker, built at the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard, was named the legendary conqueror of Siberia - Ermak, and on October 29, 1898, it was launched on the River Tyne in England.

In 1898, D.I. Mendeleev and S.O. Makarov turned to S. Yu. Witte with a memorandum "On the study of the North Polar Ocean during the trial voyage of the icebreaker Ermak", setting out the program of the expedition, which was planned for the summer of 1899 , in the implementation of astronomical, magnetic, meteorological, hydrological, chemical and biological research.

A model of an icebreaker under construction in the experimental shipbuilding basin of the Marine Ministry was subjected to tests, which included, in addition to determining the speed and power, a hydrodynamic assessment of the propellers and a study of stability, resistance to lateral rolling loads, to weaken the effects of which a valuable technical improvement was introduced, proposed by D.I.Mendeleev, and for the first time applied in the new ship.

In 1901-1902 DI Mendeleev created a project for an Arctic expeditionary icebreaker. Scientists have developed a high-latitude "industrial" sea route, which implied the passage of ships near the North Pole.

DI Mendeleev devoted 36 works to the development of the Far North.

Metrology

Mendeleev was the forerunner of modern metrology, in particular, chemical metrology. He is the author of a number of works in metrology. He created an accurate theory of scales, developed the best designs of the rocker arm and lock, proposed the most accurate weighing techniques.

Science begins as soon as one begins to measure. Exact science is inconceivable without measure.

D. I. Mendeleev

In 1893, D. I. Mendeleev created the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures (now the All-Russian Research Institute of Metrology named after D. I. Mendeleev);

On October 8, 1901, on the initiative of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the first in Ukraine test tent was opened in Kharkov for the verification and branding of trade measures and weights. From this event, not only the history of metrology and standardization in Ukraine begins, but also more than a century of history of the NSC "Institute of Metrology".

Pornography

There are a number of conflicting opinions about the works of D.I.Mendeleev, dedicated to smokeless powder. Documentary information speaks about their next development.

In May 1890, on behalf of the Naval Ministry, Vice-Admiral N. M. Chikhachev proposed to D. I. Mendeleev "to serve as a scientific formulation of the Russian gunpowder business," to which the scientist, who had already left the university, expressed his consent in a letter and indicated the need for an overseas business trip with the inclusion of experts in explosives - Professor of Mine Officer Classes I. M. Cheltsov, and the manager of the pyroxylin plant L. G. Fedotov - the organization of the laboratory of explosives.

In London, D.I.Mendeleev met with scientists who enjoyed constant prestige: F. Abel (chairman of the Committee on Explosives, who discovered cordite), J. Dewar (member of the committee, co-author of cordite), W. Ramsay, W. Anderson , A. Tillot and L. Mond, R. Jung, J. Stokes and E. Frankland. Having visited the laboratory of W. Ramsay, the Nordenfeld-Maxim rapid-fire weapon and gunpowder plant, where he himself performed tests, the Woolwich Arsenal test site, he notes in his notebook: “Smokeless gunpowder: pyroxylin + nitroglycerin + castor oil; pull, cut scales and wire posts. Gave samples ... "). Next - Paris. French pyroxylin powder was strictly classified (the technology was published only in the 1930s). I met with L. Pasteur, P. Lecoq de Boisabaudran, A. Moissant, A. Le Chatelier, M. Berthelot (one of the leaders of the work on gunpowder), - with experts in explosives A. Gauthier and E. Sarraud (director of the Central laboratories of France) and others. The scientist turned to the Minister of War of France Sh. L. Freyssin for admission to the factories - two days later E. Sarro received DI Mendeleev in his laboratory, showed the test of gunpowder; Arnoux and E. Sarro gave a sample (2 g) "for personal use", but its composition and properties showed it was unsuitable for large-caliber artillery.

In mid-July 1890 in St. Petersburg D.I.Mendeleev pointed out the need for a laboratory (opened only in the summer of 1891), and himself, with N.A. R. Shulyachenko, began experiments at the university. In the fall of 1890, at the Okhta plant, he participated in tests of smokeless powder on various types of weapons - he requested technology. In December, DI Mendeleev obtained soluble nitrocellulose, and in January 1891 - that which "dissolves like sugar", which he called pyrocollodion.

DI Mendeleev attached great importance to the industrial and economic side of the industry, to the use of only domestic raw materials; studied the production of sulfuric acid from local pyrites at the plant of PK Ushkov in the city of Yelabuga, Vyatka province (where later they began to produce gunpowder in a small volume), - cotton "ends" from Russian enterprises. Production began at the Shlisselburg plant near St. Petersburg. In the fall of 1892, with the participation of the chief inspector of the artillery of the navy, Admiral S.O. Makarov, pyrocollodious gunpowder was tested, which was highly appreciated by military specialists. For a year and a half, under the leadership of D.I. After tests in 1893, Admiral S.O. Makarov confirmed the suitability of the new "smokeless potion" for use in guns of all calibers.

D.I.Mendeleev was engaged in porcine production until 1898. The involvement of the Bondyuzhinsky and Okhtinsky plants, the Marine pyroxylin plant in St. Petersburg resulted in a confrontation between departmental and patent interests. SO Makarov, defending D.I. he seeks the removal of secrecy - "Marine collection" under the heading "On pyrocollodion smokeless powder" (1895, 1896) publishes his articles, where comparing various gunpowders with pyrocollodion in 12 parameters, states its obvious advantages, expressed - the constancy of the composition, uniformity, with the exception of " detonation traces "

The French engineer Messena, none other than an expert from the Okhta gunpowder factory, who was interested in his pyroxylin technology, obtained from also interested manufacturers the recognition of the identity of the latter with pyrocollodion - D. I. Mendeleev. Instead of developing domestic research, they bought foreign patents - the right to "authorship" and the production of Mendeleev's gunpowder was appropriated by the junior lieutenant of the US Navy D. Bernadou, who was then in St. John Baptiste Bernadou), "Part-time" employee of ONI (eng. Office of Naval Intelligence- Directorate of Naval Intelligence), who obtained the recipe, and, never before doing this, suddenly from 1898 "carried away by the development" of smokeless gunpowder, and in 1900 received a patent for "Colloidal explosives and its production" (eng. Colloid explosive and process of making same) - pyrocolloidal gunpowder ..., in his publications he reproduces the conclusions of DI Mendeleev. And Russia, “according to its eternal tradition,” in the First World War, bought it in huge quantities, this gunpowder, in America, and the sailors are still indicated as inventors - Lieutenant D. Bernadou and Captain J. Converse (eng. George Albert Converse).

Dmitry Ivanovich devoted 68 articles to research on the topic of porohodelling, based on his fundamental works on the study of aqueous solutions, and directly related to them.

About electrolytic dissociation

There is an opinion that D. I. Mendeleev “did not accept” the concept of electrolytic dissociation, that he allegedly misinterpreted it, or even did not understand at all ...

DI Mendeleev continued to show interest in the development of the theory of solutions in the late 1880s - 1890s. This topic acquired special significance and topicality after the formulation and the beginning of the successful application of the theory of electrolytic dissociation (S. Arrhenius, W. Ostwald, J. Van't Hoff). DI Mendeleev closely watched the development of this new theory, but refrained from any categorical assessment.

DI Mendeleev thoroughly examines some of the arguments to which supporters of the theory of electrolytic dissociation turn to when proving the very fact of decomposition of salts into ions, including a decrease in the freezing point and other factors determined by the properties of solutions. These and other issues related to the understanding of this theory are devoted to his "Note on the dissociation of dissolved substances." He speaks of the possibility of combining solvents with solutes and their influence on the properties of solutions. While not categorically asserting, D.I. Mendeleev, at the same time, points to the need not to discount the possibility of multilateral consideration of the processes: “before recognizing dissociation into M + X ions in a solution of MX salt, one should follow the spirit of all information about solutions, seek for aqueous solutions of MX salts for the action with H2O giving MOH + HX particles, or for the dissociation of MX ( n+ 1) H2O for hydrates MOH m H2O + HX ( n - m) H2O or even directly hydrates MX n H2O into separate molecules ".

From this it follows that D.I.Mendeleev did not indiscriminately deny the theory itself, but to a greater extent indicated the need for its development and understanding, taking into account the consistently developed theory of the interaction of a solvent and a dissolved substance. In the notes of the section "Fundamentals of Chemistry" devoted to the topic, he writes: "... for those wishing to study chemistry in more detail, it is very instructive to delve into the totality of information related to this, which can be found in" Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie "over the years since 1888".

In the late 1880s, intense discussions developed between supporters and opponents of the theory of electrolytic dissociation. The controversy in England acquired the greatest acuteness, and it was connected precisely with the works of D.I.Mendeleev. Data on dilute solutions formed the basis of the arguments of the supporters of the theory, and opponents turned to the results of studies of solutions in wide ranges of concentrations. The greatest attention was paid to solutions of sulfuric acid, well studied by D.I.Mendeleev. Many English chemists have consistently developed DI Mendeleev's point of view on the presence of important points in the "composition - property" diagrams. This information was used in criticism of the theory of electrolytic dissociation by H. Crompton, E. Pickering, G. E. Armstrong and other scientists. Their reference to the point of view of D. I. Mendeleev and the data on sulfuric acid solutions in the form of the main arguments of their innocence were regarded by many scientists, including German ones, as opposing the "Mendeleev's hydration theory" to the theory of electrolytic dissociation. This led to a biased and acutely critical perception of the positions of DI Mendeleev, for example, by the same V. Nernst.

While these data refer to very complex cases of equilibria in solutions, when, in addition to dissociation, molecules of sulfuric acid and water form complex polymer ions. In concentrated solutions of sulfuric acid, a parallel course of processes of electrolytic dissociation and association of molecules is observed. Even the presence of various hydrates in the H2O - H2SO4 system, revealed due to electrical conductivity (by the jumps of the “composition - electrical conductivity” line), does not give grounds to deny the validity of the theory of electrolytic dissociation. Awareness of the fact of the simultaneous association of molecules and dissociation of ions is required.

Mendeleev - economist and futurologist

DI Mendeleev was also an outstanding economist who substantiated the main directions of the economic development of Russia. All his activities, whether it be the most abstract theoretical research, be it rigorous technological research, certainly, in one way or another, resulted in practical implementation, which always implied taking into account and a good understanding of the economic meaning.

DI Mendeleev saw the future of Russian industry in the development of the communal and artisan spirit. Specifically, he proposed reforming the Russian community so that it would carry out agricultural work in the summer and factory work in its communal factory in the winter. Inside individual plants and factories, it was proposed to develop an artel organization of labor. A factory or a factory in each community - "this is what one thing can make the Russian people rich, hardworking and educated."

Together with S. Yu. Witte, he took part in the development of the 1891 Customs Tariff in Russia.

DI Mendeleev was an ardent supporter of protectionism and economic independence of Russia. In his works "Letters about factories", "Explanatory tariff ..." DI Mendeleev stood on the position of protecting Russian industry from competition from Western countries, linking the development of Russian industry with the general customs policy. The scientist noted the injustice of the economic order, which allows countries that process raw materials to reap the fruits of the labor of workers in the countries that supply raw materials. This order, in his opinion, "gives the have the entire advantage over the have-not."

In his address to the public - "Justification of Protectionism" (1897) and in three letters to Nicholas II (1897, 1898, 1901 - "written and sent at the request of S. Yu. Witte, who said that he alone could not convince") DI Mendeleev sets out some of his economic views.

He points to the advisability of unhindered inclusion of foreign investment in the national industry. The scientist regards capital as a "temporary form" into which "some aspects of industry have poured out in our century"; to a certain extent, like many contemporaries, he idealizes him, implying behind him the function of the bearer of progress: "Wherever he comes from, it will give birth to new capital everywhere, so it will bypass the entire limited sphere of the Earth, bring peoples closer together and then, probably, will lose its modern meaning" ... According to D. I. Mendeleev, foreign investments should be used, as their own Russian ones, as a temporary means to achieve national goals.

Moreover, the scientist notes the need to nationalize several vital regulatory economic components and the need to create an education system as part of the state's protective policy.

Ural expedition

Speaking about the "third service to the Motherland", the scientist emphasizes the importance of this expedition. In March 1899, D.I. Mendeleev, in his report to the assistant minister of finance V.N. He proposes to transfer state-owned factories corresponding to the interests of defense to the Military and Naval Ministry; other enterprises of this kind, state-owned mining plants - in private hands in the form of competition potential to reduce prices, and the treasury, which owns ores and forests - income. The development of the Urals is hindered by the fact that "there are almost entirely some large businessmen who have taken over everything and everyone for themselves"; to curb them - to develop "beyond large, many small enterprises"; speed up the construction of railways.

On behalf of the Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte and Director of the Department of Industry and Trade V. I. Kovalevsky, the management of the expedition was entrusted to D. I. Mendeleev; he appeals to the owners of private factories in the Urals, asking them to "assist in the study of the state of the iron business."

Despite the discomfort, the scientist did not give up the trip. The expedition was attended by: Head of the Department of Mineralogy at St. Petersburg University, Professor P. A. Zemyatchensky, a well-known specialist in Russian iron ores; assistant to the head of the scientific and technical laboratory of the Maritime Ministry - chemist S. P. Vukolov; KN Egorov - employee of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures. DI Mendeleev instructed the latter two to "inspect many Ural factories and produce complete magnetic measurements" to identify anomalies indicating the presence of iron ore. KN Egorov was also entrusted with the study of the Ekibastuz coal deposit, which, in the opinion of D.I.Mendeleev, is very important for the Ural metallurgy. The expedition was accompanied by the representative of the Ministry of State Property N. A. Salarev and the secretary of the Permanent Consultative Office of the iron-workers V. V. Mamontov. The personal routes of the participants of the Ural expedition were determined by the tasks.

DI Mendeleev from Perm followed the following route: Kizel - Chusovaya - Kushva - Grace Mountain - Nizhniy Tagil - High Mountain - Yekaterinburg - Tyumen, by steamer - to Tobolsk. From Tobolsk by steamer - to Tyumen and further: Yekaterinburg - Bilimbaevo - Yekaterinburg - Kyshtym. After Kyshtym, DI Mendeleev “bleeds down his throat” - a relapse of an old ailment, he stays in Zlatoust, hoping to rest and “start back at the factories”, but there was no improvement, and he returned to Boblovo through Ufa and Samara. DI Mendeleev noted that while still in Yekaterinburg he got a good idea of ​​the state of the iron industry in the Urals.

In his report, S. Yu. Witte, D. I. Mendeleev indicates the reasons for the slow development of metallurgy, and the measures to overcome this: "The impact of Russia on the entire west of Siberia and on the steppe center of Asia can and should be carried out through the Ural Territory." DI Mendeleev saw the reason for the stagnation of industry in the Urals in the socio-economic archaic: "... It is necessary with special persistence to end all the remnants of the landlord relationship that still exists everywhere in the Urals in the form of peasants assigned to factories." The administration interferes with small businesses, but "the true development of industry is unthinkable without free competition between small and medium-sized breeders and large ones." DI Mendeleev points out: monopolists sponsored by the government hinder the development of the region, - "expensive prices, satisfaction with what has been achieved and a halt in development." He later notes that it cost him "a lot of work and trouble."

In the Urals, his idea of ​​underground gasification of coal was justified, expressed by him back in the Donbass (1888), and to which he returned more than once ("Combustible Materials" - 1893, "Foundations of Factory Industry" - 1897, "Teaching about Industry" - 1900 -1901).

Participation in the study of the Ural iron industry is one of the most important stages in Mendeleev's career as an economist. In his work "To the Knowledge of Russia" he will say: "In my life I had to take part in the fate of three ... cases: oil, coal and iron ore." From the Ural expedition, the scientist brought invaluable material, which he used later in the works "The Doctrine of Industry" and "To the Cognition of Russia."

To the knowledge of Russia

In 1906, DI Mendeleev, witnessing the first Russian revolution, and sensitively reacting to what was happening, seeing the approach of great changes, wrote his last major work "To the knowledge of Russia." Population issues occupy an important place in this work; in his conclusions, the scientist relies on a scrupulous analysis of the results of the population census. DI Mendeleev processes statistical tables with his characteristic thoroughness and skill of a researcher who is completely proficient in the mathematical apparatus and methods of calculation.

A rather important component was the calculation of the two centers of Russia - the surface and the population, which is present in the book. For Russia, the understanding of the territorial center of the state - the most important geopolitical parameter - was made for the first time by D.I.Mendeleev. The scientist attached to the publication a map of a new projection, which reflected the idea of ​​a single industrial and cultural development of the European and Asian parts of the country, which was supposed to serve to bring the two centers closer together.

Mendeleev on demographic growth

The scientist clearly shows his attitude to the present issue in the context of his convictions in general in the following words: "The highest goal of politics is most clearly expressed in the development of conditions for human reproduction."

At the beginning of the 20th century, Mendeleev, noting that the population of the Russian Empire had doubled over the past forty years, calculated that by 2050 its population, while maintaining the existing growth, would reach 800 million people. For what actually exists, see the article Demographic situation in the Russian Federation.

Objective historical circumstances (first of all, wars, revolutions and their consequences) made adjustments to the calculations of the scientist, nevertheless, the indicators to which he came about the regions and peoples, for one reason or another, to a lesser extent affected by the named unpredictable factors, confirm the fairness of his predictions.

Three services to the Motherland

In a private letter to S. Yu. Witte, which remained unsent, D. I. Mendeleev, stating and evaluating his many years of activity, calls "three services to the Motherland":

These directions in the multifaceted work of the scientist are closely related to each other.

The logical-thematic paradigm of the scientist's creativity

All scientific, philosophical and publicistic work of D. I. Mendeleev is proposed to be considered integrally - in comparison of the sections of this great heritage both from the point of view of the “weight” in it of individual disciplines, directions and themes, and in the interaction of its main and particular components.

In the 1970s, the director of the Museum-Archive of D.I. Over the years, studying and consistently comparing the sections of this huge collection, RB Dobrotin, step by step, revealed the internal logical connection of all its small and large parts; This was facilitated by the opportunity to work directly with the materials of the unique archive, and communication with many recognized specialists in different disciplines. The untimely death of the talented researcher did not allow him to fully develop this interesting undertaking, which in many ways anticipates the possibilities of both modern scientific methodology and new information technologies.

Constructed like a genealogical tree, the scheme structurally reflects the thematic classification and allows tracing the logical and morphological connections between various directions of D.I.Mendeleev's work.

The analysis of numerous logical connections allows us to identify 7 main directions of the scientist's activity - 7 sectors:

  • Periodic law, pedagogy, education.
  • Organic chemistry, the study of the limiting forms of compounds.
  • Solutions, oil technology and oil industry economics.
  • Physics of liquids and gases, meteorology, aeronautics, resistance of the environment, shipbuilding, development of the Far North.
  • Standards, questions of metrology.
  • Solid state chemistry, solid fuel and glass technology.
  • Biology, medicinal chemistry, agrochemistry, agriculture.

Each sector corresponds not to one topic, but a logical chain of related topics - the “stream of scientific activity”, which has a certain direction; the chains are not completely isolated - there are numerous connections between them (lines crossing the boundaries of the sectors).

Thematic headings are presented in the form of circles (31). The number inside the circle corresponds to the number of works on the topic. Central - corresponds to the group of early works of D.I. Mendeleev, from where research in various fields originated. The lines connecting the circles show connections between topics.

The circles are distributed over three concentric rings, corresponding to three aspects of activity: internal - theoretical work; secondary - technology, technique and applied issues; external - articles, books and speeches on the problems of economics, industry and education. The block, located behind the outer ring, and uniting 73 works on general issues of a socio-economic and philosophical nature, closes the scheme. Such a construction makes it possible to observe how a scientist in his work moves from a particular scientific idea to its technical development (lines from the inner ring), and from it to the solution of economic problems (lines from the middle ring).

The absence of conventional symbols in the publication "Chronicle of the life and work of D. I. Mendeleev" ("Science", 1984), on the creation of which RB Dobrotin († 1980) also worked at the first stage, is also due to the absence of a semantic-semiotic connection with the proposed scientist system. However, in the preface of this informative book, it is noted that this "work can be considered as a sketch of a scientific biography of a scientist."

D. I. Mendeleev and the world

Scientific interests and contacts of D. I. Mendeleev were very wide, he repeatedly went on business trips, made many private trips and travels

He ascended sky-high heights and descended into mines, visited hundreds of factories and factories, universities, institutes and scientific societies, met, argued, collaborated and simply talked, shared his thoughts with hundreds of scientists, artists, peasants, entrepreneurs, workers and craftsmen, writers , statesmen and politicians. He took many photographs, acquired a lot of books and reproductions. The library, which has survived almost entirely, includes about 20 thousand publications, and the partially survived huge archive and collection of visual and reproductive materials contains a lot of heterogeneous polygraphic storage units, diaries, workbooks, notebooks, manuscripts and extensive correspondence with Russian and foreign scientists, public figures and others. correspondents.

Across European Russia, Caucasus, Ural and Siberia

Novgorod, Yuryev, Pskov, Dvinsk, Koenigsberg, Vilno, Eidkunen, Kiev, Serdobol, Imatra, Kexholm, Priozersk, St. Petersburg, Kronshtadt, Myakishevo, Dorokhovo, Konchanskoe, Borovichi, Mlevo, Konstantinovo, Yaroslavl, Kverobilin, Tveroblov Tarakanovo, Shakhmatovo, Moscow, Kuskovo, Tula, Oryol, Tambov, Kromy, Saratov, Slavyansk, Lisichansk, Tsaritsyn, Kramatorskaya, Patchwork, Lugansk, Stupki, Maryevka, Bakhmut, Golubovka, Khatsapetovka, Kamenskaya, Yashikovskaya, Gorlovka Yuzovka, Khartsyzskaya, Makeevka, Simbirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Bogodukhovka, Grushevka, Maksimovka, Nikolaev, Odessa, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Tikhoretskaya, Yekaterinodar, Novorossiysk, Astrakhan, Mineralnye Vody, Pyatigorsk, Petlyar, Grozny Port, Temir-Khan-Shura, Derbent, Sukhum, Kutais, Mtskheta, Shemakha, Surakhani, Poti, Tiflis, Baku, Batum, Elizavetpol, Kizel, Tobolsk, Chusovoy, Kushva, Perm, Nizhny Tagil, Kazan, Elabuga, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg , Kyshtym, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk, Miass, Samara

Foreign travel and travel

Visiting in some years many times - 32 times was in Germany, 33 - in France, in Switzerland - 10 times, 6 times - in Italy, three times - in Holland, and twice - in Belgium, in Austria-Hungary - 8 times, 11 times - in England, was in Spain, Sweden and the USA. Regularly passing through Poland (at that time part of the Russian Empire) to Western Europe, I made two special visits there.

Here are the cities in these countries, which in one way or another are associated with the life and work of D. I. Mendeleev:

Confession

Awards, academies and societies

  • Order of St. Vladimir I degree
  • Order of St. Vladimir II degree
  • Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
  • Order of the White Eagle
  • Order of St. Anne 1st class
  • Order of St. Anne II degree
  • Order of St. Stanislaus I degree
  • Legion of Honor

DI Mendeleev's scientific authority was enormous. The list of titles and titles includes more than a hundred titles. Almost all Russian and most of the most respected foreign academies, universities and scientific societies, he was elected as their honorary member. Nevertheless, he signed his works, private and official appeals without indicating any involvement in them: “D. Mendeleev "or" Professor Mendeleev ", rarely mentioning any honorary titles awarded to him.

D.I. Mendeleev - Doctor of the Turin Academy of Sciences (1893) and the University of Cambridge (1894), Doctor of Chemistry at St. Petersburg University (1865), Doctor of Laws from Edinburgh (1884) and Princeton (1896) universities, Glasgow University (1904), Doctor civil law, University of Oxford (1894), Ph.D. and Master of Liberal Arts, University of Göttingen (1887); member of the Royal Society: London (Royal Society for the Promotion of Natural Sciences, 1892), Edinburgh (1888), Dublin (1886); member of the Academies of Sciences: Roman (Accademia dei Lincei, 1893), Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1905), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1889), National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Boston, 1903), Royal Danish Academy of Sciences (Copenhagen, 1889) ), The Irish Royal Academy (1889), the South Slavic (Zagreb), the Czech Academy of Sciences, Literature and Art (1891), Krakow (1891), the Belgian Academy of Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts (accocié, 1896), the Academy of Arts (St. Petersburg, 1893); honorary member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1891); Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg (1876), Paris (1899), Prussian (1900), Hungarian (1900), Bologna (1901), Serbian (1904) Academies of Sciences; honorary member of Moscow (1880), Kiev (1880), Kazan (1880), Kharkov (1880), Novorossiysk (1880), Yuryevsky (1902), St. Petersburg (1903), Tomsk (1904) universities, as well as the Institute of Rural economy and forestry in New Alexandria (1895), the St. Petersburg Technological Institute (1904) and the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Institute (1869) and the Petrovsk Agricultural and Forestry Academy (1881), the Moscow Technical School (1880).

D.I. Mendeleev was elected an honorary member of the Russian Physicochemical (1880), Russian Technical (1881), Russian Astronomical (1900), St. Petersburg Mineralogical (1890) societies, and about 30 other agricultural, medical, pharmaceutical and other Russian societies - independent and university: Society for Biological Chemistry (International Association for the Promotion of Research, 1899), Society of Naturalists in Braunschweig (1888), English (1883), American (1889), German (1894) Chemical Societies, Physics Society in Frankfurt Maine (1875) and the Society for Physical Sciences in Bucharest (1899), the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1888), the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (1893), the Royal Society of Sciences and Literature in Gothenburg (1886), the Manchester Literary and Philosophical (1889) and the Cambridge Philosophical (1897) Societies, Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (1904), Scientific Society of Antonio Alzate (Mexico City, 1904), International Ny Committee of Weights and Measures (1901) and many other domestic and foreign scientific institutions.

The scientist was awarded the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London (1882), the Medal of the Academy of Meteorological Aerostatics (Paris, 1884), the Faraday Medal of the English Chemical Society (1889), the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London (1905) and many other awards.

Mendeleev congresses

Mendeleev congresses are the largest traditional all-Russian and international scientific forums dedicated to issues of general ("pure") and applied chemistry. They differ from other similar events not only in scale, but also in that they are devoted not to individual areas of science, but to all areas of chemistry, chemical technology, industry, as well as related areas of natural science and industries. The congresses were held in Russia at the initiative of the Russian Chemical Society since 1907 (I congress; II congress - 1911); in the RSFSR and the USSR - under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences (from 1925 - the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and from 1991 - RAS: III Congress - 1922). After the VII Congress, held in 1934, a 25-year break followed - the VIII Congress was held only in 1959.

The last XVIII Congress held in Moscow in 2007, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of this event itself, was "record" - 3850 participants from Russia, seven CIS countries and seventeen foreign countries. The largest number of reports in the entire history of the event was 2173. 440 people spoke at the meetings. The authors, including co-authors-speakers, were more than 13,500 people.

Mendeleev Readings

In 1940, the board of the All-Union Chemical Society. DI Mendeleev (VHO) Mendeleev Readings were established - annual reports of leading domestic chemists and representatives of related sciences (physicists, biologists and biochemists). They have been held since 1941 at Leningrad, now St. Petersburg State University, in the Large Chemical Auditorium of the Faculty of Chemistry of St. Petersburg State University on the days close to D.I. March 1869). They were not carried out during the Great Patriotic War; reopened in 1947 by the Leningrad branch of the Military Chemical Society and the Leningrad University on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the death of D.I.Mendeleev. In 1953 they were not carried out. In 1968, in connection with the centenary of the discovery of the periodic law by D.I.Mendeleev, three readings took place: one in March and two in October. The only criteria for participation in the readings are an outstanding contribution to science and a doctorate degree. The Mendeleev Readings were held by presidents and vice-presidents of the USSR Academy of Sciences, full members and corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, RAS, minister, Nobel laureates, professors.

The Academy of Sciences of the USSR established a prize in 1934 and, in 1962, the D.I. Mendeleev Gold Medal for the best work in chemistry and chemical technology.

Nobel epic

The secrecy label, which allows the circumstances of the nomination and consideration of candidates to be made public, implies a half-century period, that is, what happened in the first decade of the 20th century in the Nobel Committee was already known in the 1960s.

Foreign scientists nominated Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev for the Nobel Prize in 1905, 1906 and 1907 (compatriots never). The status of the award implied a qualification: the discovery was no more than 30 years old. But the fundamental significance of the periodic law was confirmed precisely at the beginning of the 20th century, with the discovery of inert gases. In 1905, D. I. Mendeleev's candidacy was on the "small list" - with the German organic chemist Adolf Bayer, who became the laureate. In 1906, it was nominated by an even larger number of foreign scientists. The Nobel Committee awarded D.I. Mendeleev a prize, but the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences refused to approve this decision, in which the influence of S. Arrhenius, the 1903 laureate for the theory of electrolytic dissociation, played a decisive role - as mentioned above, there was a misconception that D. I. Mendeleev; the laureate was the French scientist A. Moissan - for the discovery of fluorine. In 1907, it was proposed to "divide" the prize between the Italian S. Cannizzaro and D. I. Mendeleev (Russian scientists again did not participate in its nomination). However, on February 2, the scientist passed away.

Meanwhile, one should not forget about the conflict between D.I. Mendeleev and the Nobels brothers (throughout the 1880s), who, taking advantage of the crisis in the oil industry and striving for a monopoly on Baku oil, on its production and distillation, for this purpose speculated "Breathing with intrigue rumors" about her exhaustion. DI Mendeleev at the same time, conducting research on the composition of oil from different fields, developed a new method of fractional distillation, which made it possible to achieve the separation of mixtures of volatile substances. He led a long polemic with L. E. Nobel and his associates, fighting against the predatory consumption of hydrocarbons, with ideas and methods that contributed to this; Among other things, to the great displeasure of his opponent, who used not entirely plausible methods to assert his interests, he proved the groundlessness of the opinion about the impoverishment of the Caspian sources. By the way, it was D.I.Mendeleev who proposed, back in the 1860s, the construction of oil pipelines, which were successfully introduced since the 1880s by the Nobels, who, nevertheless, reacted extremely negatively to his proposal to deliver crude oil to Central Russia, because, well aware of the benefits of this for the state as a whole, they saw in this the damage to their own monopoly. DI Mendeleev devoted about 150 works to oil (the study of composition and properties, distillation and other issues related to this topic).

D. I. Mendeleev in marginal history

As you know, under the influence of certain socio-corporate tendencies, oral history tends to transform individual facts and phenomena that took place in reality, giving them anecdotal, popular or caricature features to varying degrees. These distortions, whether they are profane in nature, which is a consequence of the lack of competent ideas about the true state of affairs, little awareness of issues related to the subject of the story, whether the product of the implementation of any tasks, often - defamatory, provocative or advertising properties, remain relatively harmless in moral sense until then until they receive fixation in the field of official bibli-electronic informative carriers, contributing to their acquisition of almost academic status.

The most widespread are the interpretations of episodes from the life of DI Mendeleev, associated with his studies of alcohol solutions, with the "solitaire" of the periodic law, allegedly seen by him in a dream and "the production of suitcases."

About the dreamed periodic table of elements

For a very long time, DI Mendeleev could not present his ideas about the periodic system of elements in the form of a clear generalization, a rigorous and visual system. Once, after three days of strenuous work, he lay down to rest and fell asleep. Then he said: “I clearly see in a dream a table where the elements are arranged as needed. I woke up, immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper and fell asleep again. Only in one place was the amendment necessary afterwards ”. A. A. Inostrantsev, reproducing in approximately the same words what D. I. Mendeleev himself told him, saw in this phenomenon "one of the excellent examples of the mental impact of increased brain work on the human mind." This story gave rise to a lot of pseudo-scientific interpretations and myths. At the same time, the scientist himself, to the question of the reporter of "Petersburg leaf" about how the idea of ​​the periodic system was born, answered: "... Not a penny per line! Not like you! I thought about it, maybe twenty-five years, but you think: I was sitting, and suddenly a nickle for a line, a nickel for a line, and it's done ...! "

"Chemists"

At a time when chemistry in the philistine environment was interpreted as not quite clear purpose, rather "dark" activity (which is close to one of the versions of etymology), "chemists" in common parlance called dodgers, crooks and criminals. The real fact is illustrated by such a case from the life of DI Mendeleev, about which he himself told: “I am driving somehow in a cab, and the police are leading a bunch of crooks towards me. My cabman turns and says: 'Look, they took the chemists.'

This "term" received a peculiar development and refraction in the USSR in the second half of the 20th century, when the Soviet penitentiary system carried out a practice that meant serving time by citizens convicted of relatively minor crimes within production zones (initially only of a chemical profile, later - to varying degrees of harmful for the health of industrial institutions). This punishment was called "chemistry", and everyone who was subjected to this form of isolation, regardless of the affiliation of the industries where they stayed, were also called "chemists".

Suitcases D. I. Mendeleev

There are all sorts of legends, fables and anecdotes telling about the "production of suitcases" for which DI Mendeleev allegedly became famous. Indeed, Dmitry Ivanovich acquired some experience in bookbinding and cardboard work even at the time of his involuntary inactivity in Simferopol, when, due to the Crimean War and the closure of a gymnasium located near the theater of operations, he was forced to while away the time doing this business. Later, already having a huge archive, which included a lot of documents, reproductions, photographs taken by the scientist himself (he did this with great enthusiasm, taking a lot of photographs during his trips and travels), printed materials and samples of the epistolary genre, periodically he glued them on his own in general, simple, unpretentious cardboard containers. And in this matter, he achieved a certain skill - even the small but durable cardboard bench he made was preserved.

There is one "reliable" anecdote, which probably gave rise to all the others concerning this topic. He usually made purchases of materials for his studies of this kind in Gostiny Dvor. Once, when a scientist entered the hardware store for this purpose, he heard the following dialogue behind his back: "Who is this honorable gentleman?" “Don't you know? This is the well-known master of luggage cases, Mendeleev, ”the seller replied with respect in his voice.

The legend of the invention of vodka

Dmitry Mendeleev in 1865 defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic "Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water", not at all connected with vodka. Mendeleev, contrary to the legend, did not invent vodka; it existed long before him.

On the label of the "Russian Standard" it is written that this vodka "corresponds to the standard of Russian vodka of the highest quality, approved by the tsarist government commission headed by D. I. Mendeleev in 1894". Mendeleev's name is associated with the choice of a strength of 40 ° for vodka. According to information from the Museum of Vodka in St. Petersburg, Mendeleev considered 38 ° the ideal strength of vodka, but this number was rounded up to 40 to simplify the calculation of alcohol tax.

However, in the writings of Mendeleev, it is not possible to find a justification for this choice. Mendeleev's dissertation on the properties of mixtures of alcohol and water does not distinguish 40 ° or 38 ° in any way. Moreover, Mendeleev's dissertation was devoted to the area of ​​high alcohol concentrations - from 70 °. The "Tsarist Government Commission" could not establish this vodka standard in any way, if only because this organization - the Commission for finding ways to streamline the production and commercial circulation of beverages containing alcohol - was formed at the suggestion of S. Yu. Witte only in 1895 year. Moreover, Mendeleev spoke at its meetings at the very end of the year and only on the issue of excise taxes.

Where did 1894 come from? Apparently, from an article by historian William Pokhlebkin, who wrote that "30 years after writing the dissertation ... agrees to join the commission." The manufacturers of the "Russian Standard" added the metaphorical 30 to 1864 and got the desired value.

The director of the D.I.Mendeleev museum, Doctor of Chemistry, Igor Dmitriev, said the following about 40-degree vodka:

D. I. Mendeleev's addresses in St. Petersburg

Monuments to D.I.Mendeleev

Monuments of Federal significance

  • Architectural Monuments of Federal Significance
    • An office in the building of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures - Zabalkansky (now Moskovsky) Avenue, 19, building 1. - Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation... No. 7810077000 // Site "Objects of cultural heritage (monuments of history and culture) of the peoples of the Russian Federation". Checked out
    • Residential building of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures - Zabalkansky (now Moskovsky) Avenue, 19, building 4, apt. 5. Arch. von Gauguin A.I. - Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation... No. 7810078000 // Site "Objects of cultural heritage (monuments of history and culture) of the peoples of the Russian Federation". Checked out
  • Monuments of monumental art of federal significance
    • Monument to chemist DI Mendeleev St. Petersburg, Moskovsky prospect, 19. Sculptor I. Ya. Gintsburg. The monument was opened on February 2, 1932. - Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation... No. 7810076000 // Site "Objects of cultural heritage (monuments of history and culture) of the peoples of the Russian Federation."

Memory of D.I.Mendeleev

Museums

  • D. I. Mendeleev Museum-Archive at St. Petersburg State University
  • Museum-estate of D. I. Mendeleev "Boblovo"
  • Museum of Gosstandart of Russia at VNIIM named after V.I. D. I. Mendeleeva

Settlements and stations

  • The city of Mendeleevsk (Republic of Tatarstan).
  • Settlement Mendeleevo (Solnechnogorsk District, Moscow Region).
  • Railway station Mendeleevo (Karagai municipal district of the Perm region).
  • Mendeleevskaya metro station (Moscow).
  • Settlement Mendeleevo (Tobolsk district of the Tyumen region).
  • Settlement Mendeleev (former camp of Dzemga) in the Leninsky district of Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory).

Geography and Astronomy

  • Mendeleev Glacier (Kyrgyzstan), on the northern slope of Mendeleevts Peak
  • Mendeleev crater on the moon
  • Underwater Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean
  • Mendeleev volcano (Kunashir island)
  • Asteroid Mendeleev (asteroid No. 12190)
  • The geographic center of the Russian State (calculated by D.I.Mendeleev, the right bank of the Taz River near the village of Kikkiaki). Anchored on the terrain of the NSE them. I. D. Papanin in 1983.

Educational establishments

  • D. I. Mendeleev Russian University of Chemical Technology (Moscow).
  • Novomoskovsk Institute of the D.I.Mendeleev Russian Chemical Technology University (Novomoskovsk, Tula region).
  • Tobolsk State Social and Pedagogical Academy named after D. I. Mendeleeva

Societies, conventions, magazines

  • Russian Chemical Society named after D. I. Mendeleev
    • Mendeleev congresses on general and applied chemistry

Industrial enterprises

  • Refinery named after D.I.Mendeleev in the village of Konstantinovsky (Tutaevsky District, Yaroslavl Region).

Literature

  • O. Pisarzhevsky "Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev" (1949; Stalin Prize, 1951)

Bonistics, numismatics, philately, sigillation

  • In 1984, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mendeleev's birth, a jubilee ruble was issued in the USSR.
  • Mendeleev is depicted on the obverse of the 100 Ural franc denomination of 1991.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) - Russian scientist-encyclopedist. In 1869 he discovered the periodic law of chemical elements - one of the basic laws of natural science. He left over 500 published works, including the classic "Foundations of Chemistry" - the first harmonious exposition of inorganic chemistry. Also D.I. Mendeleev is the author of fundamental research in physics, metrology, aeronautics, meteorology, agriculture, economics, public education, closely related to the needs of Russia's economic development. Organizer and first director of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834 in Tobolsk in the family of Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, who at that time held the position of director of the Tobolsk gymnasium and schools of the Tobolsk district. Dmitry was the last seventeenth child in the family. In 1841-1849. studied at the Tobolsk gymnasium.

Mendeleev received his higher education at the Natural Sciences Department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg, from which he graduated in 1855 with a gold medal. In 1856 he defended his master's thesis at St. Petersburg University and from 1857 as an associate professor taught a course in organic chemistry there. In 1859-1861. he was on a scientific trip to Heidelberg, where he made friends with many scientists who were there, including A.P. Borodin and I.M. Sechenov. There he worked in his small home laboratory, as well as in the laboratory of R. Bunsen at the University of Heidelberg. In 1861 he published the textbook "Organic Chemistry", which was awarded the Demidov Prize by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

In 1862 Mendeleev married the stepdaughter of the famous author of The Little Humpbacked Horse, Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov, Feozva Nikitichnaya Lescheva, a native of Tobolsk. In this marriage, he had three children, but one daughter died in infancy. In 1865, the scientist acquired the Boblovo estate in the Moscow province, where he was engaged in agrochemistry and agriculture. F.N. Leshcheva and her children lived there most of the time.

In 1864-1866. DI. Mendeleev was a professor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. In 1865 he defended his doctoral dissertation "On the combination of alcohol with water" and at the same time was approved by a professor at St. Petersburg University. Mendeleev taught at other higher educational institutions. He took an active part in public life, appearing in the press with demands for permission to read public lectures, protested against circulars restricting the rights of students, and discussed the new university charter.

Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic law dates back to March 1, 1869, when he compiled a table entitled "Experience of a system of elements based on their atomic weight and chemical similarity." It was the result of years of searching. He compiled several versions of the periodic table and, on its basis, corrected the atomic weights of some known elements, predicted the existence and properties of still unknown elements. At first, the system itself, the corrections and forecasts made by Mendeleev were met with restraint. But after the discovery of the elements predicted by him (gallium, germanium, scandium), the periodic law began to gain recognition. The periodic table has become a kind of guiding map in the study of inorganic chemistry and in research work in this area.

In 1868 Mendeleev became one of the organizers of the Russian Chemical Society.

At the end of the 1870s. Dmitry Mendeleev fell passionately in love with Anna Ivanovna Popova, the daughter of a Don Cossack from Uryupinsk. In his second marriage, DI Mendeleev had four children. DI. Mendeleev was the father-in-law of the Russian poet Alexander Blok, who was married to his daughter Lyubov.

Since 1876, Dmitry Mendeleev was a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, in 1880 he was promoted to academician, but was blackballed, which caused a sharp public protest.

In 1890, Mendeleev, being a professor at St. Petersburg University, resigned in protest against the oppression of students. Almost forcibly cut off from science, Dmitry Mendeleev devotes all his energies to practical tasks.

With his participation, in 1890, a draft of a new customs tariff was created, in which a protective system was consistently implemented, and in 1891 a wonderful book was published: "An Explanatory Tariff", presenting a commentary on this draft and at the same time a deeply thought-out overview of industry , indicating her needs and future prospects. In 1891, the Naval and War Ministry entrusted Mendeleev with the development of the question of smokeless powder, and he (after an overseas business trip) in 1892 brilliantly fulfills this task. The "pyrocollodium" he proposed turned out to be an excellent type of smokeless powder, moreover, versatile and easily adaptable to any firearm.

Since 1891, Mendeleev has been taking an active part in the "Encyclopedic Dictionary" of Brockhaus-Efron, as an editor of the chemical-technical and factory department and the author of many articles serving as the decoration of this publication. In 1900-1902. Dmitry Mendeleev edits the "Library of Industry" (Brockhaus-Efron Publishing House), where he owns the "Doctrine of Industry" issue. Since 1904, "Cherished Thoughts" began to appear - Mendeleev's historical, philosophical and socio-economic treatise, which contains, as it were, his bequest to posterity, the results of his experiences and thoughts on various issues related to the economic, state and social life of Russia.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev died on January 20, 1907 from pneumonia. His funeral, accepted at the expense of the state, was a real national mourning. The Department of Chemistry of the Russian Physicochemical Society established two prizes in honor of Mendeleev for the best work in chemistry. Mendeleev's library, along with the furnishings of his office, was acquired by Petrograd University and is kept in a special room that once formed part of his apartment.

Mendeleev quiz

1. When and where was DI Mendeleev born?

2. How many children were there in the Mendeleev family?

17 people

3. What was the name of D.I.'s father? Mendeleev?

Ivan Pavlovich

4. What kind of child was in the family of Mitya Mendeleev?

The last

5. Where and by whom did Dmitry's father work before he became blind?

Director of the Tobolsk gymnasium

6. What was the name of the scientist's mother?

Marya Dmitrievna

7. How old was Mitya Mendeleev who went to school?
8. How many years did he study in first grade?
9... Why should Mitya Mendeleev study in the first grade for 2 years?

Until the age of 8

10. What attracted Mitya in childhood and later served to form an interest in knowledge during his life in Aremzyanka?

Observation of glass-blowing craftsmanship at the glass factory of Vasily Korniliev, Mendeleev's uncle

11. Where did Mendeleev get higher education?

DI Mendeleev received his higher education at the Department of Natural Sciences of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Main Pedagogical Institute in the city of St. Petersburg, the course of which he graduated in 1855 with a gold medal.

12. In what capacity did D.I. Mendeleev?(teacher of mathematics, physics and natural sciences).

13. DI Mendeleev was a member of what academies and scientific societies?

DI Mendeleev (being out of vote at the election of academicians of the Russian Academy) was an honorary member of the American, Irish, Yugoslavian Academies of Sciences, Dublin Royal Society; full member of London and Edinburgh Royal Societies, Roman, Belgian, Czech, Danish, Krakow and other academies of sciences; honorary doctors of Cambridge, Oxford, Gettin and other universities; honorary member of many foreign scientific societies.

14. When was the periodic law of D. I. Mendeleev discovered?

The periodic law was discovered by D.I.Mendeleev in 1869.

15. What do you know about Mendeleev's prediction of the existence of chemical elements undiscovered by that time?

DI Mendeleev predicted the existence of more than 10 previously unknown elements; the properties of three of them he described in the most detail and with surprising accuracy. All the chemical elements predicted by the great scientist were subsequently discovered.

16. What do you know about the correction by DI Mendeleev of the atomic masses of chemical elements?

D.I. Mendeleev, on the basis of the law he discovered, corrected the atomic masses for nine chemical elements (beryllium, lanthanum, uranium, etc.)

17. The properties of which undiscovered elements were most fully predicted by DI Mendeleev, and who discovered these elements?

DI Mendeleev most fully predicted the properties of gallium, germanium, scandium. These chemical elements were discovered later, respectively, by Lecoq de Boisbaudran, K. Winkler, L. Nilsson.

18. What was the first confirmation of the periodic law of D.I. Mendeleev? (discovery of gallium by Lecoq de Boisbaudran).

19. How many years did Professor D.I. Mendeleev?

23 years old


20. In what city abroad did Mendeleev set up his first chemical laboratory?
21. According to DI Mendeleev, four objects made up his name. What did the scientist mean?

DI Mendeleev wrote: “In essence, four subjects formed a name for me: the periodic law, the study of gases, the understanding of solutions as associations, and“ Fundamentals of Chemistry ”. This is all my wealth. "

22. What is the scientific heritage of DI Mendeleev?

DI Mendeleev published 431 scientific works, including 146 on various issues of chemistry, 99 on physics, 99 on various fields of technology, 36 on economics and sociology, 22 on geography, 29 on other issues.

23. How is the name of DI Mendeleev immortalized?

The name of the great Russian scientist D.I. Research Institute of Metrology named after DI Mendeleev, etc. The name of the great scientist is also the periodic law discovered by him and the periodic system of chemical elements compiled by him, which are studied by schoolchildren around the world.

24. What are Mendeleev environments?

On Wednesdays, prominent people of that time gathered in the house of the Mendeleev family: artists, composers, poets, scientists

25. How many children did the scientist have?(5 children: 3 sons and 2 daughters)

26. In what city D.I. Mendeleev started his professional career?(Odessa).

27. What are Mendeleev environments?(on Wednesdays, prominent people of that time gathered in the house of the Mendeleev family: artists, composers, poets, scientists).

28. What great Russian poet was the daughter of Lyuba D.I. Mendeleev married to?(A. Blok)

29. What was the name of the first book of the scientist, which brought him fame?(textbook "Organic Chemistry").

30. In what he saw, according to the scientist himself, the meaning of his scientific activity Mendeleev? ("First service to the Motherland")

31.In what year the periodic law of D.I. Mendeleev?(autumn 1875)

32. What position was offered to Mendeleev by the Minister of Finance Witte in 1892? (curator of the Chamber of Weights and Measures)

33.How many works were written by a scientist?(25 volumes)