Analytical and industrial chemistry · 1838–1904
Clemens Winkler
Winkler grew up around smelting works and taught at the Freiberg Mining Academy, and his instincts were those of an industrial analyst: when an analysis does not add up, the missing fraction is a fact about the sample, not a nuisance. He also worked on the contact process for sulfuric acid and on gas analysis, and wrote extensively on analytical technique.
Explore the supporting references at the foot of this article.
Contribution & context
In 1886 he was given the argyrodite, whose analysis persistently fell several per cent short of one hundred. Rather than dismiss the deficit he pursued it, isolated the missing constituent, and named it germanium. Its measured density, formula and chloride matched Mendeleev’s eka-silicon closely enough to settle the standing of the periodic law.
Germanium: history, properties and usesLANL Periodic Table — GalliumLANL Periodic Table — TinUSGS — TinRSC Periodic Table — Germanium
Discoveries in context
Filling the gaps the table left open ↗
Mendeleev left blank places and stated what should occupy them; the elements that arrived turned an arrangement into a predictive instrument, and the last two gaps had to be manufactured.
Sources & further reading
- Germanium: history, properties and uses ↗Royal Society of ChemistryReference explanation · Source checked
- LANL Periodic Table — Gallium ↗Los Alamos National LaboratoryReference explanation · Source checked
- LANL Periodic Table — Tin ↗Los Alamos National LaboratoryReference explanation · Source checked
- USGS — Tin ↗United States Geological SurveyReference explanation · Source checked
- RSC Periodic Table — Germanium ↗Royal Society of ChemistryReference explanation · Source checked
Sources and further reading. What the review labels mean