Dmitri Mendeleev — "he reproached the modern scientific thought because it “got entangled in ions an…"
he reproached the modern scientific thought because it “got entangled in ions and electrons”.
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Details
His criticism of new scientific concepts (like ions and electrons) towards the end of his career.
Date: Late 19th - early 20th century
PhilosophicalVerification
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Found in 1 providers: gemini
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Mendeleev criticized scientists of his time for becoming overly obsessed with subatomic particles like ions and electrons, getting lost in tiny details rather than seeing the bigger picture of chemistry. He felt researchers were chasing fashionable new physics concepts while neglecting the systematic, observable study of matter. The remark warns that fixation on invisible components can distract from understanding substances as wholes and their practical, measurable behavior.
Relevance to Dmitri Mendeleev
Mendeleev built the periodic table through patient classification of known elements by weight and properties, not speculation about internal structure. He died in 1907, just as atomic theory was reshaping chemistry, and resisted ideas like electron-based bonding and even the divisibility of atoms. This complaint reflects his empiricist roots, his devotion to organizing observable matter, and his discomfort watching a younger generation redirect chemistry toward particle physics he considered unproven.
The era
In Mendeleev's final years, J.J. Thomson had discovered the electron (1897), radioactivity was upending the indivisible atom, and ionic theory from Arrhenius was transforming solution chemistry. Physics was invading chemistry's turf, and Nobel Prizes increasingly rewarded atomic-structure work. Many older chemists, trained in careful stoichiometry and element classification, felt the discipline was being hijacked by speculative subatomic models before the experimental foundations were solid enough to justify the shift.
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