Search engine giant Google is celebrating the 182nd birth anniversary of Dmitri Mendelev, the man who created formulation of the periodic table.
Mendeleev didn’t just place the elements in their correct positions in the table, accounting for existing errors in valency and atomic weights, but also left gaps for “missing” elements, correctly predicting that these spaces would be filled by those yet to be discovered.
Three of the elements were discovered within Mendeleev’s lifetime, cementing the table’s acceptance among the scientific community.
The table was expanded and refined in the years since following further discoveries. Its seventh row was completed last month just weeks shy of Mendeleev’s February 8 birthday.
“Mendeleev used the logic of his table to argue for the existence of yet-to-be discovered elements (like gallium and germanium), and even to predict their behaviors. Some of these predictions were wrong, but the basic principles behind his periodic organization continue to stand at the foundation of modern chemistry,” Google said.
