March 13, 1869, is considered to be the day when Dmitry Mendeleev completed his work on the Periodic Table of Elements. This table represented the most vital and personal achievement of Russian science for all students of the Soviet and post-Soviet era. At least, the table hanging on the wall of chemistry classrooms, often featuring Mendeleev with his long grey hair and impressive beard, established clear visual contact with the scientist. One could not help glancing at a picture at least once during a lesson. On top of that, close scrutiny of his table was the only chemistry-related skill achieved by many pupils at chemistry lessons.
However, the discovery of the periodical law and introduction of the Periodic Table of Elements marked a breakthrough scientific achievement, which paved the way for modern chemistry and made it possible to work out a clear classification of natural phenomena and the interactions of agents. Recently Mendeleev’s table was recognized as the most crucial achievement of human civilization in the history of material evolution. This reward was issued by experts of AIMMPE (the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, which specializes in studies of new materials), who named the periodic table among the "Top 10 inventions that shook the world." Mendeleev’s table received 4,235 votes in 8 countries with membership in the AIMMPE. In second place, AIMMPE placed iron-smelting technology, which was first conducted by the Egyptians around 3,550 B.C.
As with all other fundamental discoveries, there is a scientific myth about the Table's creation. At least, the story about Dmitry Mendeleev’s dream in which he saw the table occupies the same honorable place as Newton’s apple or Archimedes’ bathtub. When it comes to such myths, there is no point in trying to separate the truth from idle speculations. The scientist never denied this fact, but said that he had seen the table in a dream after several sleepless nights during which he tried to arrange the collected data into some clear pattern. “I had a clear picture in my mind, but couldn’t fit it into a table,” Dmitry Mendeleev said to his friend Ivan Lapshin, a philosopher who visited him in 1869 shortly before the discovery. During those days Mendeleev was reported to work without a wink of sleep for three days and three nights. He tried to fit the results of his analytical work into some pattern. Having reached the highest level of nervous exhaustion, he was compelled to lie down for a while, and fell asleep at once. “I saw a table, where the elements were arranged in perfect order. I woke up and put it down at once on a piece of paper. Only later I revised one point.”
The prophetic dream story only confirms the importance and vital nature of the discovery made by the Russian scientist. It serves as an extra seal of quality. For example, the chemist Friedrich Kekul
