Mendeleyev's Dream

[Tormod]

I read a book last year which I think was pretty marvelous. It is titled "Mendeleyev's Dream: The quest for the Elements" and is written by Paul Strathern. It's a very good book about the history of how the different elements were isolated and how the table of elements came about thanks to a marvellous brainwave by Mendeleyev after much, much work.

 

It is of course also a book crammed full of alchemy, strange medicines, magic, and whatnot - in other words, an excellent popular science book. Highly recommended!

 

Here is a link to the book at our science bookstore.

[Jay-qu]

never heard of it - but I will look for it next time I'm at the bookshop :cake:

[Michaelangelica]

Sound great! Thankyou.

Love the history of ideas

Maybe you should post this in "What are you reading" as well?

[Boerseun]

Sheesh, T - took almost two years for the first replies to come in!

 

This thread is a survivor! :confused:

[Tormod]

Maybe you should post this in "What are you reading" as well?

 

This was posted before that section even existed... :confused:

 

But this book is still one of the better books I've read on the history of chemistry (and science).

 

It's here:

Hypography's bookstore

[Racoon]

Sheesh, T - took almost two years for the first replies to come in!

 

This thread is a survivor! :confused:

 

And 1,500 views! :)

 

I'll check it out as soon as I can. Brush up on my chemistry. I need to borrow someone's credit card though! :Alien:

 

I Read the review, and if Tormod glossed it, then it should be good.:D

[Jay-qu]

I was guessing it had gone unnoticed to the more recent members (it had eluded me) so I gave it a bump :) Its amazing it got so many views but no replies

[HydrogenBond]

Speaking of chemical dreams, wasn't the discovery of the strusture of benzene and aromatic carbon rings due to a dream. If I remember Kekule was trying to figure out this structure when he had a dream, I think it was a snake biting its tail. When he awoke the structure of benezene and the basis for aromatic chemistry was born.

[Tormod]

Yes. It's a great story, and probably true as well.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I once read a passage from this book online. It looked absolutely amazing! I hope to find a copy of it sometime soon.

 

By the way, benzene is one of the greatest organo-chemical substances:o

[P-man]

Well, talking about dreams again, Einstein claims that E=mc2 came to him in a dream in which he was sledding faster than the speed of light.

[Michaelangelica]

Well, talking about dreams again, Einstein claims that E=mc2 came to him in a dream in which he was sledding faster than the speed of light.

I just drempt that my compost tea ate my plants.

What would Freud make of that?;)

[P-man]

I don't want to know.