Well-Ordered Thing

An academic biography, Michael D. Gordin's A Well-Ordered Thing tells Dmitri Mendeleev's story in dense prose, detailed with Russian history and molecular chemistry. Mendeleev will forever be remembered as the inventor of the periodic table of the elements, which sorts hydrogen, helium, lithium, and so on, according to their weights and properties. Readers unfamiliar with either the periodic table or the politics of Imperial Russia will have a tough go of it. Nevertheless, Gordin's treatment reveals surprising facts about the enigmatic Mendeleev and his social context.

The periodic system was developed in Russia by an individual who was ... trying to bring order to a Russian society that was apparently disintegrating.... In order to understand the building of this part of modern chemistry, one must come to terms with the attempts to create a modern Russia. Far from a stereotypically isolated scientist surrounded by bubbling beakers and cryptic lore, the "ambitious and energetic" Mendeleev was a very public figure. He involved himself eagerly in the social problems of the day and participated actively in trying to shape a new society. His pursuits included hot-air balloons, art criticism, debunking Spiritualists, and perfecting systems of every kind. When he hit on the idea of periodicity in the elements, he published his table first in a chemistry textbook, later submitting papers to other scientists once his confidence allowed him to make predictions of elements yet to be discovered. Gordin paints Mendeleev as a consummate Imperial who was shocked by the revolution that toppled the Tsar. This complex civil servant and brilliant scientist deserves wider appreciation, and A Well-Ordered Thing provides a rich context for examination of Mendeleev's life. --Therese Littleton