Guest guest Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 >Bal Ram Singh <bsingh >bsingh >Mendeleev's chemistry and Sanskrit >Thu, 05 Aug 2004 19:01:13 -0400 > >Dear Friends and Colleagues, > >The following is part of an article written by Professor Subhash Kak >(Electrical and Computer Engineering) of Louisiana State University, and >provides a fine example of mutual learning between sciences and humanities. >Also, it seems to be important to keep reminding ourselves that modern and >post-modern concepts should not be adopted at the expense of some of the >major ideas of learning and progress made by ancient thinkers and >scientists. > >Sincerely, > >Bal Ram > > > http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305944 > >The Chemist and the Grammarian > >Solid state electronics, which has revolutionized modern life, arises from >the unique properties of silicon and germanium in that their electrical >properties change dramatically when substituted atoms are introduced in >their crystal lattices. Another widely used solid state material is >gallium, which is used in light emitting diodes and other devices. > >It is an amusing sidelight of history of chemistry that the original names >of gallium and germanium were Eka-aluminum and Eka-silicon, where eka, >Sanskrit for one, was used by Mendeleev, the famed formulator of the >Periodic Table of elements, as representing beyond. He predicted the >existence of these elements in a paper in 1869, and it was the >identification of these elements in 1875 and 1886 that made him famous, and >led to the general acceptance of his Periodic Table. > >There are a couple of theories about why Mendeleev, a Russian from St. >Petersburg, used a Sanskrit prefix. According to Professor Paul Kiparsky of >Stanford University, Mendeleev was a friend and colleague of the >Sanskritist Bohtlingk, who was preparing the second edition of his book on >Panini at about this time, and Mendeleev wished to honour Panini with his >nomenclature. Noting that there are striking similarities between the >Periodic Table and the introductory Shiva Sutras in Panini's grammar, >Kiparsky says: > >[T]he analogies between the two systems are striking. Just as Panini found >that the phonological patterning of sounds in the language is a function of >their articulatory properties, so Mendeleev found that the chemical >properties of elements are a function of their atomic weights. Like Panini, >Mendeleev arrived at his discovery through a search for the "grammar" of >the elements (using what he called the principle of isomorphism, and >looking for general formulas to generate the possible chemical compounds). >Just as Panini arranged the sounds in order of increasing phonetic >complexity (e.g. with the simple stops k, p... preceding the other stops, >and representing all of them in expressions like kU, pU) so Mendeleev >arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weights, and called the >first row (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon etc.) "typical (or representative) >elements." Just as Panini broke the phonetic parallelism of sounds when the >simplicity of the system required it, e.g. putting the velar to the right >of the labial in the nasal row, so Mendeleev gave priority to isomorphism >over atomic weights when they conflicted, e.g. putting beryllium in the >magnesium family because it patterns with it even though, by atomic weight, >it seemed to belong with nitrogen and phosphorus. In both cases, the >periodicities they discovered would later be explained by a theory of the >internal structure of the elements. > >Another possibility is that it wasn't Panini's Shiva Sutras that influenced >him, but rather the two-dimensional arrangement of the Sanskrit varnamala. >The tabular form of the Sanskrit letters is due to the two parameters >(point of articulation and aspiration) at the basis of the sounds, and >Mendeleev must have recognized that ratios/valency and atomic weight >likewise defined a two-dimensional basis for the elements. > >Convinced that the analogy was fundamental, Mendeleev theorized that the >gaps that lay in his Table must correspond to undiscovered elements. In >all, he predicted eight elements, and he used the prefixes of eka, dvi and >tri (Sanskrit one, two and three) in their naming. > >Mendeleev, as the discoverer of the order in chemical elements, was tipping >his hat to the Sanskrit grammarians of yore who had created astonishingly >sophisticated theories of language based on their discovery of the >two-dimensional patterns in basic sounds. > >The beauty of the Sanskrit grammar is just one small point of light in the >shining hill of Sanskrit sciences. Even for us moderns, who are not vitally >connected to these sciences any longer, there are amazing jewels to be >mined from the hill. > >External Links: >http://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt.html : Mendeleev's predicted >elements >http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/siva-t1.pdf : Professor Kiparsky on the Shiva >Sutras > > > > > > > >Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D. >Director, Center for Indic Studies >University of Massachusetts Dartmouth >285 Old Westport Road >Dartmouth, MA 02747 > >Phone: 508-999-8588 >Fax: 508-999-8451 >Email: bsingh > >Internet address: http://www.umassd.edu/indic _______________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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