The periodic table is the most elegant tool in all of science. It hangs in every chemistry classroom, a testament to the order and harmony of the universe. But what about the man who created it?

Dmitri Mendeleev was a figure of immense genius and fierce independence, born into hardship in the remote Siberian frontier. He was a scientist who risked everything on a single, bold idea: that the elements held a hidden rhythm. This book tells the story of the mind behind the masterpiece?a man who not only gave us the key to the elements but also became a national hero, a pioneer of industry, and a champion of a new, modern Russia.