Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich [key], 1834–1907, Russian chemist. He is famous for his formulation (1869) of the periodic law and the invention of the periodic table, a classification of the elements; with Lothar Meyer, who had independently reached similar conclusions, he was awarded the Davy medal in 1882. From his remarkable table Mendeleev predicted the properties of elements then unknown; three of these (gallium, scandium, and germanium) were later discovered. He studied also the nature of solutions and the expansion of liquids. An outstanding teacher, he was professor at the Univ. of St. Petersburg (1868–90). He directed the bureau of weights and measures from 1893 and served as government adviser on the development of the petroleum industry. His Principles of Chemistry (2 vol., 1868–71; tr. 1905) was long a standard text. Various transliterations of his surname are common, among them Mendeleyev and Mendelejeff.
See biography by P. Kelman and A. H. Stone (1970); I. V. Petryanov and D. N. Trifonov, Elementary Order: Mendeleev's Periodic System (1985).
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