The genius of Mendeleev's periodic table - Lou Serico

天才的门德列夫周期表 - Lou Serico

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Minji Seo 校对人员: Sherry Chen

The periodic table is instantly recognizable.

人们一眼就能认出周期表

It's not just in every chemistry lab worldwide,

它不只存在于全球每间化学实研室

it's found on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and shower curtains.

还在 T 恤、咖啡杯及浴帘上出现

But the periodic table isn't just another trendy icon.

但周期表并不只是另一个时尚图像

It's a massive slab of human genius,

它是人类才华的大集合

up there with the Taj Mahal, the Mona Lisa, and the ice cream sandwich --

可以与泰姬玛哈陵、蒙娜莉萨的微笑 及冰淇淋三明治相媲

and the table's creator, Dmitri Mendeleev, is a bonafide science hall-of-famer.

而此表的创造者——门得列夫，是位货真价实的名人堂成员

But why? What's so great about him and his table?

但此话怎讲？他本人及其周期表有什么伟大之处？

Is it because he made a comprehensive list of the known elements?

就因为他对已知元素作出了一张总表？

Nah, you don't earn a spot in science Valhalla just for making a list.

才不是，你决不会因为弄了张列表就进了科学名人堂　 （译注：原文Valhalla为北欧神话的英灵殿）

Besides, Mendeleev was far from the first person to do that.

况且门得列夫根本不是第一个做这事的人

Is it because Mendeleev arranged elements with similar properties together?

那是因为门得列夫以相似性质来排列元素？

Not really, that had already been done too.

也不尽然，在他之前也有人做过了

So what was Mendeleev's genius?

所以到底门得列夫天才在哪里？

Let's look at one of the first versions of the periodic table from around 1870.

让我们看一下约在1870年所创的第一个元素周期表

Here we see elements designated by their two-letter symbols arranged in a table.

这里我们看见元素以他们的英文简写排列在一张表里

Check out the entry of the third column, fifth row.

来看看第三行第五排这项

There's a dash there.

这有条横杠

From that unassuming placeholder springs the raw brilliance of Mendeleev.

从这个预留的位置，显露出门得列夫的聪明才智。

That dash is science.

这就是科学！

By putting that dash there, Dmitri was making a bold statement.

门得列夫以那条横杠做出一项大胆的声明

He said -- and I'm paraphrasing here --

他说──我来转述一下大致意思──

Y'all haven't discovered this element yet. In the meantime, I'm going to give it a name.

虽诸君尚未发现此元素，但鄙人要在此替它命名。

It's one step away from aluminum, so we'll call it eka-aluminum,

此元素在铝下一格，所以我们要称它为‘eka-铝’ （铝下元素）

"eka" being Sanskrit for one.

‘eka’来自梵语，即‘一’的意思

Nobody's found eka-aluminum yet, so we don't know anything about it, right?

这个铝下元素尚未被发现，所以我们应该对其一无所知。 对吧？

Wrong! Based on where it's located, I can tell you all about it.

错！我可以凭它在周期表的位置来告诉你它的一切

First of all, an atom of eka-aluminum has an atomic weight of 68,

第一，铝下元素的原子量为68

about 68 times heavier than a hydrogen atom.

比氢原子重约68倍

When eka-aluminum is isolated, you'll see it's a solid metal at room temperature.

铝下元素被分离出来时，你会看到它在室温下为固态金属

It's shiny, it conducts heat really well,

它具金属光泽，导热性很好

it can be flattened into a sheet, stretched into a wire,

它能被延展成薄片，拉长成缆线

but its melting point is low. Like, freakishly low.

但是它的熔点很低，简直是低得吓人

Oh, and a cubic centimeter of it will weigh six grams.

喔，而且它每立方公分只有六公克重

Mendeleev could predict all of these things simply from where the blank spot was,

门得列夫可以仅凭空格的位置来预测这些东西

and his understanding of how the elements surrounding it behave.

而且他了解围绕在它四周元素的特性

A few years after this prediction,

在他作了这项预测后几年

a French guy named Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran

有个叫保罗·埃米尔·勒科克·德布瓦博德兰的法国人

discovered a new element in ore samples

在矿砂样品发现了一种新元素

and named it gallium after Gaul, the historical name for France.

并将其命名为‘镓’（Gallium）， 以纪念法国的历史名称‘高卢’（Gaul）

Gallium is one step away from aluminum on the periodic table.

镓在周期表上位于铝下一格

It's eka-aluminum. So were Mendeleev's predictions right?

所以它是铝下元素。所以门得列夫的预测对吗？

Gallium's atomic weight is 69.72.

镓的原子量为69.72

A cubic centimeter of it weighs 5.9 grams.

每立方公分重5.9公克

it's a solid metal at room temperature,

在室温为固态金属

but it melts at a paltry 30 degrees Celcius,

但在摄氏30度这么不起眼的温度下即熔化

85 degrees Fahrenheit.

亦即华氏85度

It melts in your mouth and in your hand.

它熔于你口，也熔于你手

Not only did Mendeleev completely nail gallium,

门得列夫不仅完全猜到镓

he predicted other elements that were unknown at the time:

他还预测了其它当时尚未知的元素

scandium, germanium, rhenium.

钪、 锗、 铼

The element he called eka-manganese is now called technetium.

他当时称为‘锰下元素’的，现在称作鎝（锝）

Technetium is so rare it couldn't be isolated until it was synthesized in a cyclotron in 1937,

鎝是如此稀有，直到1937年 才在回旋加速器中被人合成并分离出来

almost 70 years after Dmitri predicted its existence,

几乎是门得列夫预测其存在后70年了

30 years after he died.

即他死后30年

Dmitri died without a Nobel Prize in 1907, but he wound up receiving a much more exclusive honor.

门得列夫到1907年去世前都与诺贝尔奖无缘， 但他后来得到一项殊荣

In 1955, scientists at UC Berkeley successfully created 17 atoms of a previously undiscovered element.

1955年，加州大学柏克莱分校的科学家 成功创造出17种之前未发现的元素，

This element filled an empty spot in the perodic table at number 101,

这个填在周期表上101空位的元素

and was officially named Mendelevium in 1963.

1963年被正式命名为钔（纪念门得列夫）

There have been well over 800 Nobel Prize winners,

诺贝尔奖有超过800位得主

but only 15 scientists have an element named after them.

但只有15名科学家拥有以他们为名的元素

So the next time you stare at a periodic table,

所以下回你盯着周期表看时

whether it's on the wall of a university classroom or on a five-dollar coffee mug,

不论是在大学教室的墙上，或是五美元的马克杯上

Dmitri Mendeleev, the architect of the periodic table,

门得列夫，这位元素周期表的创造人

will be staring back.

一定也会回望着你