The periodic law of chemical elements is an important discovery, thanks to which Dmitry Mendeleev entered the history forever. Interesting facts from the life of a scientist allow you to learn more about this mysterious man, to penetrate his secrets. What is known about him besides the enormous contribution he made to the development of science?
Mendeleev: interesting facts from life
The great chemist was born in Tobolsk, it happened in February 1834. Of course, of great interest is the family in which Dmitry Mendeleev was born. Interesting facts from the life of the famous scientist indicate that he comes from a large family, became the seventeenth child of his parents. Unfortunately, eight children died before the age of one year, but the rest survived.
Dmitry barely managed to celebrate his thirteenth birthday when the family lost the breadwinner. The father, who worked as the director of the Tobolsk gymnasium, died of a serious illness. Mendeleev's mother was forced to work hard in order to raise the children to her feet. It was she who made sure that the future great scientist became a student at the Main Pedagogical Institute, which was later renamed Saint Petersburg State University.
From the quartet to the medalist
Surprisingly, while studying at the gymnasium Dmitry Mendeleev was not at all drawn to knowledge. Interesting facts from the life of a scientist include information about his school grades. It is known that the Law of God and Latin were most difficult for him, and other sciences did not cause him special interest.
There is also information that Mendeleev had problems with his studies at the time when he was a student at the Main Pedagogical Institute. It is even known that a brilliant scientist once turned out to be among the second year students, since he received unsatisfactory marks in many subjects. Then he managed to pass only mathematics well. However, he gradually developed a craving for knowledge, he became involved in studies, grades became better and better, thanks to which he was awarded a gold medal upon graduation.
Rebellious teacher
Not only an outstanding scientist, but also an excellent teacher was Dmitry Mendeleev. Interesting facts from the life of a genius indicate that he had a chance to teach in several gymnasiums. For about 30 years, the chemist gave work to the Imperial St. Petersburg University, from which he was forced to leave an unpleasant conflict.
The character of the luminary of science was quite complex, according to the memoirs of contemporaries. It is not surprising that he had to quit university in 1890. It is known that this happened due to a quarrel with the Minister of Education. Minister Delyanov did not agree to draw attention to the students' petition, which proud Mendeleev could not put up with.
"Inventor" of vodka
Many great scholars are credited with discoveries that they never made. Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, whose interesting facts are given in this article, could not escape this fate. The myth that this outstanding scientist is the inventor of vodka has become widespread.
In fact, vodka was created long before the brilliant scientist presented his doctoral dissertation, which was called "The Discourse on the Compound of Water and Alcohol." It is known for certain that there is no mention of alcohol in it. This paper discusses the properties possessed by mixtures of water and alcohol. The population of Russia met vodka in 1843, when its alleged “inventor” was not yet ten years old. Consequently, Mendeleev has nothing to do with her.
Fantasy dream
Did the talented person really dream about the table that made him famous? Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich also never saw any good dreams, interesting facts from the life of which are collected in this article. It is known that the scientist was even offended when he heard the myth that he dreamed of a periodic table of elements. He stated that he had been working on its creation for about twenty years, and did not see it at all in a dream, therefore, such allegations devalue his work.
It is known that the periodic law was discovered by Dmitry in February 1869. This happened when an outstanding chemist was going on a business trip. It was then that it dawned on him that there was a connection between chemical properties and mass. The planned trip had to be postponed, as Mendeleev went to work with his head.
Unusual hobby
What other interesting facts from the life of Mendeleev exist? It is worth briefly telling about an amazing hobby, which for many years a great chemist devoted a lot of time to. The passion of Dmitry, about which few people today know, was the manufacture of suitcases. Surprisingly, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, he managed to gain a reputation as the most outstanding master case suitcase.
Of course, merchants gladly bought suitcases from a scientist, proud that the products were purchased from the very luminary of science. However, it was not only the glory that Dmitry already used then that made them turn to him. Interestingly, things were in fact unusually high-quality and durable. Their amazing strength was provided using a special glue mixture, on which the genius stopped after studying other recipes for creating glue. Unfortunately, the recipe invented by Mendeleev remained a mystery to posterity, as he did not want to make it public.
It is also known that a talented scientist was pleased to be engaged in binding books, he liked to stick frames intended for portraits. His hobbies helped him relax and take a break from work.
Award that was not
It is very strange that D. I. Mendeleev did not manage to become a Nobel Prize laureate , whose interesting facts from our life are covered by us. It was established that the great chemist was one of the nominees three times. However, in a secret ballot, which was held by members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, his candidacy constantly failed, the scientist was nominated exclusively by foreigners.
Biographers exploring the life path of the famous chemist associate this misunderstanding with the intrigues of ill-wishers, as well as with his inability to please higher-ranking officials in power.
Ballooning
What other interesting facts exist from the life and work of Mendeleev? It is known that a brilliant scientist for many years worked on the design of aircraft. The chemist wanted in this way to study humidity, pressure and temperature in the upper atmospheric layers. The project of the stratospheric balloon, the volume of which totaled 3,600 cubic meters, was developed by Dmitry in 1875. He is also the author of the idea of ​​a controlled balloon with engines.
Interestingly, the scientist not only developed projects, but also enjoyed flying on balloons, not thinking about the danger to his life. For the first time this happened in 1878, it was then that Mendeleev took to the air on a balloon by Henri Giffard. He made a new flight nine years later in the city of Klin. However, the chemist decided on the most extreme adventure in 1887, when, alone, he took to the air in a Russian balloon. It is known that the height of the ball then amounted to more than three thousand meters.
In general, a dangerous adventure took about three hours, which was enough for Dmitry to admire the total solar eclipse, as well as record the pressure and temperature.
Spy scientist and smokeless gunpowder
What else should readers who are interested in Mendeleev’s biography learn interesting facts from the life of a brilliant chemist whose name is forever imprinted in the history of science? Few people know that Dmitry had a chance to try on the role of industrial spy. This happened in 1890, when government officials turned to a scientist for help. The government was interested in the carefully concealed recipe for making smokeless gunpowder, which was too expensive to buy.
Mendeleev undertook to complete the task, for which he needed reports of the railways of foreign states (France, Germany, Britain). It was not difficult for a talented chemist to solve the recipe for gunpowder, after which he made it for Russia. What is amazing is that Dmitry easily obtained information carefully concealed by foreigners from reports that were freely available.
Pipeline for pumping oil
Of course, not all interesting facts about Mendeleev, the talented inventor of the periodic table, are listed above. It's no secret that this particular chemist is the author of the theory of the inorganic origin of oil. Dmitry developed a scheme for its fractional distillation. The scientist became the first person who came to the conclusion that it is impossible to burn oil in furnaces.
It was thanks to the work of Mendeleev that the owners of oil enterprises learned that tanks should be used for transporting oil, not wineskins, as was customary. The convincing figures given by Dmitry made it possible to prove the obvious benefit of bulk oil transportation. It was also he who recommended the construction of plants for its processing where petroleum products consumption sites are located.
Chemical element named after him
10 interesting facts from the life of Mendeleev can be read above. However, the list would not be complete unless Mendelium is mentioned. The chemical element, located in the periodic table at number 101, got its name in honor of its creator, who deservedly received this honor. Mendelevy was artificially created in 1955.
It is interesting that even when developing his periodic system, the scientist identified empty cells that he saved for elements that were not yet discovered by scientists. Subsequently, the chemical and physical properties of these elements were determined using the periodicity of the table.
What else do you need to know
Having an idea of ​​the events that took place in the life of a scientist, you can better understand what kind of person Dmitry Mendeleev was. Interesting facts from life, briefly described in the article, will certainly help to understand this. You can also add that the portrait of the famous scientist was painted by many talented artists. For example, his image was captured on the canvas by the brilliant Ilya Repin.
It is also interesting that Mendeleev himself was fond of painting, but he preferred to review other people's paintings, and not to write his own. Also, a talented scientist devoted some part of his free time to music, especially he admired Beethoven’s work, but he also had other favorite composers.