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ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY
HUMANIST GALAXY
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
PAUL STRATHERN
June 29, 2021
MENDELEYEV'S DREAM:
the Quest for the Elements
by Paul Strathern.
First Pegasus Books, 2001, reprint 2019
(308 pages plus unpaged last page of Index)
Quote = "From ancient philosophy through medieval alchemy to the splitting of the atom, this is the true story of the birth of chemistry and the role of one man's dream. In this elegant, erudite, and entertaining book, Paul Strathern has written a wondrous and illuminating story of humankind's quest to discover the fundamentals of chemistry, culminating in Mendeleyev's dream of the Periodic Table. In 1869 Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev was puzzling over a way to bring order to the fledgling science of chemistry. Wearied by the effort, he fell asleep at his desk. What he dreamed would fundamentally change the way we see the world." (Paraphrased by webmaster from publisher's summary and blurb)
BOOK OUTLINE
note = Numbers in parentheses refer to pages
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (ix)
PROLOGUE (1-7)
1) IN THE BEGINNING (9-28)
2) THE PRACTICE OF ALCHEMY (29-50)
3) GENIUS AND GIBBERISH (51-69)
4) PARACELSUS (70-98)
5) TRIAL AND ERROR (99-125)
6) THE ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE (126-158)
7) A BORN-AGAIN SCIENCE (159-186)
8) THINGS NEVER SEEN BEFORE (187-201)
note = Endings of the names of the elements (201)
9) THE GREAT PHLOGISTON MYSTERY (202-224)
10) THE MYSTERY SOLVED (225-241)
11) A FORMULA FOR CHEMISTRY (242-252)
12) THE SEARCH FOR A HIDDEN STRUCTURE (253-261)
13) MENDELEYEV (262-285)
14) THE PERIODIC TABLE (286-294)
note = Use several paragraphs at end to outline history of the periodic table (292-294)
FURTHER READING (295-302)
INDEX (303-308 + last unnumbered page)
AUTHOR NOTES, SUMMARY,
AND BOOK DESCRIPTION
AUTHOR NOTES = Paul Strathern is the author of several novels, including A Season in Abyssinia, which won a Somerset Maugham prize. Also he has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Philosophy and lectures at Kingston University. His nonfiction books include: the Venetians; Death in Florence; The Medici; The Borgias; Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements; and Empire: A New History of the World. Strathern is best known for his two series of 39 short biographies about major philosophers and scientists: "Philosophers In 90 Minutes". He lives in England. -- Bowker Author Biography.
SUMMARY = Paul Strathern unravels the quixotic history of chemistry through the quest for the elements.
BOOK DESCRIPTION = This is the wondrous and illuminating story of humankind's quest to discover the fundamentals of chemistry, culminating in Mendeleyev's dream of the Periodic Table. In 1869 Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev was puzzling over a way to bring order to the fledgling science of chemistry. Wearied by the effort, he fell asleep at his desk. What he dreamt would fundamentally change the way we see the world.
Framing this history is the life story of the 19th century Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev, who fell asleep at his desk and awoke after conceiving the periodic table in a dream-the template upon which modern chemistry is founded and the formulation of which marked chemistry's coming of age as a science. From ancient philosophy through medieval alchemy to the splitting of the atom, this is the true story of the birth of chemistry and the role of one man's dream. In this elegant, erudite, and entertaining book."
EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEWS
LIBRARY JOURNAL = Despite its title, this is not a biography of Dmitri Mendeleyev. Rather, it is a lay reader's history of chemistry or, more broadly, scientific thought, from the ancient Greeks through the 19th century.
KIRKUS REVIEWS = The book is a nimble choronological history of the transformation of sorcery and superstition into chemistry.
NEW SCIENTIST = It is a pleasure to find a popular book about chemistry. Strathern is an entertaining guide, capable of marshaling a colorful cast of thinkers and experimentalists.
THE OBSERVER = A wonderful historical romp through mankind’s attempts to understand the constituents of matter. -- From London.
PROFESSIONAL BOOK REVIEWS
[1] Chemistry has been a neglected area of science writing, and Mendeleyev, the king of chemistry, is a largely forgotten genius. Stratherds history goes a long way toward correcting that injustice. -- Simon Singh, author of the book, Fermat's Last Theorem
[2] A wonderfully entertaining and stimulating journey from alchemy to chemistry in search of the elements of our universe. It is a book of great clarity and depth. -- Jim Crace, bestselling author of the book, Harvest.
AMAZON READER BOOK REVIEWS
[1] Paul F. Brooks - Recommend for anyone interested in the subject but particularly for high school students. As an adult with no formal training in chemistry I found this a very useful and entertaining book. Strathern goes to great lengths to show that early discoveries were mostly an accidental by product of trying various recipes to transform by alchemy a compound into gold. Stories of various wizards, necromancers and outright charlatans with their beakers and retorts attempted the impossible and discovered a technique or a new compound. This story kept my interest.
Slowly and methodically, with many back slips the body of chemical understanding was expanded. What seemed to many a crazy quilt of knowledge started to solidify into a science. Strathern is able to maintain a lively narrative of the foibles and breakthroughs over many centuries. No easy feat indeed.
This book reads like a primer for the curious about a most fascinating subject. I would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject but particularly for high school students. The opening and concluding chapters concern Mendeleyev discovery of the periodic table. Strathern's description of Mendeleyev, with his short fuse of a temper and his discovery, are worth the price of the book. Helpful is the inclusion of a listing of selected readings by chapter and an index.
[2] Steve Munden - riddled with errors, at least as far as I read = Perhaps it is just misnamed. Strathern believes it necessary to begin "the quest for the elements" in near-prehistory, 600 BCE. 40% of the book later, we are still only at 1600 CE, still 200 years from Mendeleyev. That is where I gave up, overwhelmed by the irrelevance and the errors.
"Pythagoras ranks amongst the finest mathematicians of all time. He discovered that pi was incommensurable and proved the theorem named after him." False, false, and false.
"Democritus' ideas [that matter is atomic rather than continuous] appear breathtakingly modern..." False. He had not a shred of evidence favoring atomism over continuous matter.
"Almost all the hypotheses that have dominated modern philosophy were first thought of by the Greeks." True. It is also true that almost all the hypotheses that have been discarded were first thought of by the Greeks. They had exactly zero evidence to choose between any of the alternatives, which did not discourage them from fierce adherence anyway.
"In other words, [pi] is by definition immeasurable. Therefore it is impossible to square the circle using a ruler and compass." False and false.
It is possible that Strathern finally gets to Mendeleyev, and that the ignorant errors cease. I would not know, having stopped at chapter 6, 40% through, in 1608, where Strathern discusses the invention of the telescope. In a book on Mendeleyev and the elements.
[3] jmac - Not what I expected = I will start by saying I enjoyed the book a lot. But it was not what I expected it to be. I assumed from the title that this would be primarily a biography of Mendeleyev. What it turned out to be was a short biography split between the first and last chapter of the book. All of the intervening chapters were devoted to a history of alchemy from ancient times through the Middle Ages and ultimately the emergence of scientific chemistry. The history was fascinating and well written - I learned much that I did not know. It was the treatment of Mendeleyev himself that surprised me as he almost became a minor character in this sweeping history.
[4] Amelia - Disappointing = This book is more of the history of alchemy than the elements themselves. The conclusion did not show how Mendeleyev’s table evolved to the current table. Very disappointing.
[5] md reader2 - The history of science, well told = I am not an expert on the history of science, but this is the best book that I have seen on this topic. It is focused on the history of chemistry, and the discovery of the elements. But there is plenty of physics and biology, too. The author often points out the sad lack of opportunity in science for women, and occasionally deals with the influence of religious belief on scientists. The book is a great read.
[6] Amazon Customer - A great history! = It is an excellent history of chemistry. I wish there had been a little more about how the periodic chart evolved into what it is today.
[7] Jen4 - Great read! = The fact that the story goes through the history of chemistry and alchemy, only beginning and ending with Mendeleyev. This style of writing does not detract from its appeal (as other reviewers have suggested).
[8] Sherida Brower - Great book! Highly recommend this book meant for anyone who wants/needs to know the development of chemistry. Great history told in a practical, highly understood manner. Can be put down and picked up later with nothing lost to memory. I cannott wait to finish the book.
[9] markb - A history of chemical science = This book is an easy to understand account of what could potentially be a highly technical subject. It sets out to describe the history of chemical science from around 500 BCE up to Mendeleyev's creation of the Periodic Table towards the end of the 19th century.
The book starts by developing by describing the history of chemistry, from the 17th century onwards. The final chapters covering Dalton, Lavoisier and Mendeleyev are excellent. The opening half of the book is devoted to the previous two thousand years. Unfortunately here the argument meanders with Strathern going into a great deal of unnecessary irrelevant detail about alchemists and the scientific futility of alchemy. These earlier chapters could have been substantially reduced without any damage to the overall account.
Throughout the book too Strathern offers broad statements about vast swathes of history. He apparently regards the whole medieval period throughout Europe as crude and underdeveloped, whereas the Elizabethan period is described as: " the first hour of greatness in England's history". He also obviously struggles with the possibility that a scientist could take a disciplined systematic approach to understanding the universe alongside a personal religious commitment. His apparent prejudices around these wider historical and theological issues get in the way of the overall narrative. The book would also have benefitted from a wider more thorough bibliography.
Mendeleyev's Dream was first published in 2000 but was reissued in 2018. Although, as outlined above, aspects of the book would have benefitted from being more focused and concise, by the time it concludes the reader will understand the basic principles informing the Periodic Table of elements. The story of Mendeleyev's Dream, therefore, remains relevant and informative.
[10] Mr. J. A. Nisbet - Seems to go down the old tracks and stopped in the early 19th century = What about all the Lanthanides and latter Platinum group, the Radio actinides and trans-uranic? Disappointing.
[11] gggg = Informative.
[12] Tim the Grey - Proper, in depth, tale = So I am a fair way into the book, and we are still in the 16th century, with alchemists. But it has been a fun ride, thus far
REMEMBER ALWAYS:
You Are Your Adaptable Memory!
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