The Brown & White

Remember the chart we all used to refer to back in the days of high school chemistry? The chart that was on the inside cover of all our science textbooks. The chart that drove some of us crazy when we had to memorize all the elements on it for a chemistry test. If you are picturing the periodic table of elements, then you are correct.

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev is the Russian chemist and inventor who first created the periodic table of elements in 1869. He left blank spots in the table for elements he predicted would fit in but were not yet discovered. Years later when these elements were finally discovered, they fit in almost perfectly into the spots he allotted for them.

This is why Arup K. SenGupta, professor in the civil and environmental engineering department, thinks that Mendeleev was a pure genius of his time. While SenGupta agrees that Einstein and Newton were prodigies in their fields as well, he feels a certain attachment to Mendeleev and his work.

"Mendeleev was very brilliant but very down to earth at the same time," said SenGupta. "He is like my greatest scientist neighbor."

SenGupta got the experience of a lifetime this summer, when he received an invitation to lecture at the Russian Academy of Science about his research on environmental separation and iron exchange. One of his lectures took place at the headquarters of the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, which was also the location of Mendeleev's lab.

While the Russian Academy of Science does conduct tours through Mendeleev's lab, which is now set up as part of a museum, SenGupta received a personalized tour of the lab.

"They were very gracious when they took me to Mendeleev's lab," said SenGupta. "They provided me with an English-speaking tour guide, and I was able to see all the books that Mendeleev himself actually used while conducting his research."

SenGupta was able to use the chessboard that Mendeleev used to play on between classes and even got to see the exact chair that Mendeleev spent hours on while creating the periodic table.

After visiting the lab, SenGupta felt deeply inspired and needed to tell someone about this adventure.

"After I visited the lab I went straight to a nearby cybercafé and e-mailed one of my colleagues, Professor Ned Heindel. I told him that I had just visited Mendeleev's lab and that it was a truly exciting day in my life," he said.

Immediately after sending the e-mail, SenGupta decided that he was going to write a poem about Mendeleev and the experience he had while visiting Mendeleev's laboratory.

"I thought to myself why not? I wanted to capture the moment and I felt good about doing that," he said.

SenGupta said the table is useful for all of the work he does, and he frequently references the periodic table.

"If an element is toxic and needs to be removed, I refer to the periodic table to figure out what other elements may be able to aide in the removing of the toxic element," said SenGupta.

SenGupta said his experience was like no other in more ways than one. The time of his visit was during Russia's 23 days of bright light.

He said it was just like white lights shining all day, with barely a moment of darkness. "I had to close the window, and close the drapes all the way shut in order to sleep," said SenGupta. "I had never experienced [anything] like it in my life."



Dmitri Mendeleev


As a teen-age student
I first heard of you through lectures in Chemistry,
Your invention of the modern periodic table
Stood tall ever since
For its continued impact and unifying symmetry.

Every element is unique
For it has a core and a face,
In the periodic table
You assigned each
A specific home with address.

You condensed nearly one hundred elements
Into a cohesive set,
Their properties now easy to comprehend
Through the rows and columns
As readers navigate.

For Germanium, yet non-existent
You left a vacant spot much like a prophet,
Years later, when discovered
It fit so well
With its pre-destined fate.

As a master city planner
Meticulously plans city's every segment,
With same rigor you selected
Like-minded neighbors
For each element.

On this day of 21 June 2009 in St. Petersburg
It is hard to believe
As I read the hand-written notes and scribbles
Of you, Dmitri Mendeleev
A chill of excitement runs through my spine
For I am standing in the middle of a shrine
That witnessed the genesis of
The modern periodic table, a true timeless harmony
That promptly reached far and wide
Crossing every boundary.