| In 1871, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev predicted to exist as a missing analogue of the silicon group (Mendeleev called it "ekasilicon"). The existence of this element was proven by discovery of a rich silver ore of unusual appearance in the summer of 1885, which was found at Himmelsfurst Fundgrube near Freiberg. A. Weisbach recognized it as a new mineral species and called it "argyrodite"., from the Greek words that loosely translate into "rich in silver". He asked Clemens Alexander Winkler, professor of Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, to analyze it and to his surprise the results of his analysis consistently came out too low. He discovered that this was due to the presence of a new element, which, after several months& |