Edward G Mazurs

Edward Mazurs (1894–1983) wrote on the history of the periodic system of the chemical elements. He was born in Latvia, then under Czarist rule, and became Professor of Chemistry at the University of Latvia after independence. He fled with his wife and son when Latvia was reoccupied by the Soviet Union in 1944 and spent years as a refugee. He immigrated to America in 1949 and eventually obtained a professorship at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA.[1] His notes and papers are held in the library of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, where they occupy 4 linear feet.

Publications

In a self-published book, 'Types of Graphic Representation of the Periodic System of the Elements' (1957) he listed some 700 images published since 1862, classified under 146 heads.[2] He brought out a greatly expanded version in 1974: 'Graphic Representations of the Periodic System during One Hundred Years'.[3] His books are difficult to use because the references are divided into 146 corresponding sections, and the index refers to the types and not to pages. Nevertheless, his references, to works in over 20 languages, are the most comprehensive and accurate ever compiled for the period covered. Working before the age of the photocopier, he copied his illustrations by hand and generally brought them up to date by adding elements missing from the original works, and sometimes he changed them radically. In this respect his work was unsatisfactory. He gave 67 references to the modern standard medium long table, but paid it little attention, attributing its origin to Dmitri Mendeleev, who gave only a fragmentary description of it because he disliked interrupted series. Mazurs preferred tables based on electronic structure, notably that of Charles Janet and his own modification of it.

References

  1. ↑ Katz, Gary (2001). "The Periodic Table: An eight Period Table for the 21st Century". The Chemical Educator, 6(6), 324-332.
  2. ↑ Types of Graphic Representation of the Periodic System of Chemical Elements. The Author. 1957. p. 158.
  3. ↑ Graphic Representations of the Periodic System during One Hundred Years. University of Alabama Press. 1974. p. 251. ISBN 0-8173-3200-6.