Mendeleyev’s Dream by Paul Strathern, Hamish Hamilton, £12.99, ISBN
024114065X
ON A visit to a remote part of Ethiopia, I glanced inside a small, ramshackle
shop and was surprised to see on the wall a periodic table, lovingly drawn by
hand. I shouldn’t have been amazed. People everywhere understand that matter is
composed of elements. The periodic table sorts them all out by atomic weight and
shared behaviour—and shows a periodic pattern emerging that’s linked to
the number of electrons. But how did this idea achieve global dominance? Well,
taking a nap played an important part.
On a cold…
