The representations of the periodic system of chemical elements found in the works of the Jesuit Ignacio Puig, one of Mendeleev's discordant voices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i2.25824Keywords:
History of chemistry; Johannes Robert Rydberg; Eugênio Saz (S. J.).Abstract
The Spanish Jesuit Ignacio Puig (1887-1961) was one of several voices dissenting from the graphic representation of the periodic system of chemical elements developed by the Russian chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907). In his works, Puig makes use of graphic representations of the periodic system developed by the Spanish Jesuit Eugênio Saz (1878-1952), who used the works of the Swedish physicist Johannes Robert Rydberg (1854-1919) as a conceptual basis. In the paper presented here, we analyze four works by Puig from the perspective of the History of Science. We observe that there are two different graphic representations of the periodic system of chemical elements: the first appears in the works of 1927 and 1932 and the second in those of 1935 and 1945. In the first type of representation, which strictly follows Rydberg's conceptual basis, Puig considers the existence of two unknown elements (coronium and nebulium) located between hydrogen and helium. In the second type of representation, Puig disregards these elements and brings up the concept of ether proposed by Mendeleev. We consider this type of historical analysis, focused on defeated scientific constructions, to be as important as an analysis of scientific facts, helping to break with the traditional perspective of History of Science that is so common in textbooks and scientific dissemination, which reinforce a heroic history of Science and scientists.
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