This chapter discusses Dmitrii Mendeleev's “Imperial Turn.” Mendeleev had two productive reactions to his rough treatment at the hands of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. First came disillusionment with the potential of local scientific societies to overcome personal prejudices. He concluded that perhaps such societies were not the best way to mediate cultural conflict in Imperial Russia. As such, Mendeleev began to reinterpret the legacy of the Great Reforms. From believing that they were about turning state power over to a newly created public sphere, he came to believe that the Reforms' significance lay in the power of the bureaucracy to transcend personal animosity for the greater good. In February 1882, Mendeleev outlined a reform program for an institution he had previously exempted from criticism: the Imperial Academy of Sciences. His second reaction to the Academy affair was to take to heart the image of a rugged individualist given to him by the Petersburg dailies.