The most striking feature of the diffusion of Mendeleev’s system in France is that his great achievement prompted no real debates, no controversy among French academic chemists. It is not that his work was totally ignored. Rather, it was integrated as a non-event in the daily work focused on the discovery and characterization of chemical elements thanks to new techniques (spectroscopy, crystallization, and so on). In science journals Mendeleev’s system attracted attention only insofar as it could lead to the discovery of new chemical elements. After briefly mentioning when and how Mendeleev’s ideas were presented in French primary, secondary, and higher education chemistry textbooks and mentioned in official programs, we will try to understand the reasons for preferring alternative criteria for classification in chemistry textbooks. In addition to the explicit arguments advanced by those who mentioned Mendeleev’s proposals, we will attempt to interpret the silence that most textbook authors kept. In a third section, we will symmetrically focus on the small group of chemists who promoted Mendeleev’s periodic classification and try to disentangle their motivations and modes of appropriation. We will then conclude that, far from being a form of resistance to Mendeleev’s specific system, the overall skepticism expressed in French chemistry textbooks was the expression of an enduring statu quo resulting from a long debate over the best chemical classification in educational milieus. In September 1879 the Department of Haute-Marne organized at the Hôtel de la Préfecture de Chaumont an exposition scolaire aimed at exhibiting the innovative activities developed by teachers and students of local primary school institutions. It was intended to contribute to the reform of primary education following the trauma caused by the defeat in the war against Prussia. As one of its organizers claimed, “it is primary instruction, and its patriotic direction, which made the strength of our enemies. It should make ours.” It was in this context of educational reform and post-war tensions that we found the first reference to didactic use of Mendeleev’s periodic system in France.
Thermal characterization of different graphite polystyrene