Chapter 3

Summary:
There are many scientist who contributed on the development of the Periodic Table; one who helped identify the many different elements was Bunsen. In addition of creating the Bunsen burner, he also created the first spectroscope which identify elements by looking at the colors which each element shows when put into an excited state. With the Bunsen burner, Bunsen was able to excite the element enough so that the spectroscope can pick up the colors it emitted. Mendeleev was the man who is claimed as the creator of the Periodic Table. Even though he did finalize the Periodic Table, he wasn't responsible for all the work. Many other scientists, although little recognition, also helped by putting some pieces of the puzzle. Mendeleev was the one who figured out how to put all those build parts of the puzzles from the other scientist to finish the whole puzzle, and he also was one of the few who saw the full picture. With this, Mendeleev was able to find patterns and predict future elements which were soon to be discovered.
Mendeleeve believed that predicting the existence of certain elements with their specific numerical information would give him the power to claim any discovered elements which fits his prediction. Thought, when Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered a new element, a controversy rose between theoretical and experimental scientist. One exclaimed that since they predicted the discovery, they should be given the credit, and the other responded that since they physically found the discovery, they should be given the credit. In the case of both Mendeleeve and Lecop de Boisbaudran, Mendeleeve claims that if it wasn't for his prediction, Lecop de Boisdaudran would of never discovered the element. Lecop de Boisdaudran disagreed saying that he never even saw the table Mendeleev created. He believed that because of this, Mendeleev had no right to claim partial credit. The only thing that can be said from this are words spoken by Eisntien who said,"It is theory that decides what we can observe."
During this event, many other series of event occurred which all concluded to the opening of a mine in Ytterby. This mine was very special because if Mendeleeve would of traveled west from where he was, the problem of the missing lanthanide from his table would be resolved. This is because in this mine, all the missing lanthanides were discovered there. Many other scientist instead discovered these new elements. Mendeleeve, a man with a troubled childhood, became the man who discovered the Periodic Table and was the one who saw the pattern to predict future elements. Sadly, his moody nature limited him to live in peace; his hard work and bold predictions were very little praised by everyone. Today, because of his life story, many historians consider him as the first person to create the Periodic Table.

Reflection:
I can believe that not every discovery was only discovered by one person; although there could be some cases where this could happen, there are many discoveries which wouldn't of been done without the contributions of many other scientist in the past. For example, in physics, you need arithmetic to solve mathematical problems. This means that the person who developed arithmetic should also be giving credit for any discoveries made. Although this is going too far, I still believe that everyone should recognize their own discoveries as their recognition and their prize because that is where they put their mind and soul. Regarding the controversy between theoretical and experimental scientist, I believe that both should be acknowledge since without the theoretical scientist, the experimental scientist wouldn't know where to start. Without the experimental scientist, the theoretical scientist would never know if their findings are true.
It is interesting how even without the noble gasses even being discovered, the Periodic Table which Mendeleev created still worked. It might be because there was still not enough information about each element to figure out that there was a missing column. I would agree that creating the Periodic Table was a challenge which only Mendeleev was able to discover it. It is also interesting how the musical scale do-re-me-fa-sol-la-ti-do is very significant. I still don't know why this musical scale is so important because they are random notes which humans created. I don't get why eight is "the number" to look out for. Still, I would love to see other discoveries that apply to this musical scale.