Dmitri Mendeleev
1834–1907 · Russian · Victorian Era
Known for: Created the periodic table of elements, predicting undiscovered elements
Dmitri Mendeleev arranged chemical elements by atomic weight and discovered periodic patterns—creating the periodic table. His genius was in the gaps: he predicted three undiscovered elements with remarkable accuracy, and when they were found, his table was vindicated spectacularly.
His mother walked him 1,200 miles from Siberia to Moscow for his education. He was brilliantly intuitive, famously unkempt (cutting his hair once a year), and reportedly saw the final arrangement in a dream.
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