Not really, that had already been done too. So what was Mendeleev’s genius?
Let’s look at one of the first versions of the periodic table from around 1870. Here we see elements designated by their two-letter symbols arranged in a table. Check out the entry of the third column, fifth row. There’s a dash there. From that unassuming placeholder springs the raw brilliance of Mendeleev. That dash is science.
Can you fly?
Nobody’s found eka-aluminum yet, so we don’t know anything about it, right? Wrong! Based on where it’s located, I can tell you all about it.
