The periodic table is an arrangement of the chemical elements, organized on the basis of

their atomic numbers, electron configurations and recurring chemical properties. Elements are
presented in order of increasing atomic number. The standard form of the table consists of a grid of
elements, with rows called periods and columns called groups.
The history of the periodic table reflects over a century of growth in the understanding of chemical
properties. The most important event in its history occurred in 1869, when the table was published
byDmitri Mendeleev,[1] who built upon earlier discoveries by scientists such as Antoine-Laurent de
Lavoisier and John Newlands, but who is nevertheless generally given sole credit for its
development.
Contents
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1Ancient times

2Age of Enlightenment
o

2.1Hennig Brand

2.2Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier

319th century
o

3.1Johann Wolfgang Dbereiner

3.2Alexandre-Emile Bguyer de Chancourtois

3.3John Newlands

3.4Dmitri Mendeleev

3.5Lothar Meyer

3.6William Odling

420th century
o

4.1Henry Moseley

4.2Glenn T. Seaborg

5See also

6References

7External links

Ancient times[edit]
A number of physical elements (such as platinum, tin and zinc) have been known from antiquity, as
they are found in their native form and are relatively simple to mine with primitive tools. [2] However,
the notion that there were a limited number of elements from which everything was composed
originated in around 330 BCE, when the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed that everything is
made up of a mixture of one or more roots, an idea that had originally been suggested by
the Sicilian philosopher Empedocles. The four roots, which were later renamed
as elements by Plato, were earth, water, air and fire. While Aristotle and Plato introduced the
concept of an element, their ideas did nothing to advance the understanding of the nature of matter.

Age of Enlightenment[edit]

Hennig Brand, as shown inThe Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus

Hennig Brand[edit]
The history of the periodic table is also a history of the discovery of the chemical elements. The first
person in history to discover a new element was Hennig Brand, a bankrupt German merchant. Brand
tried to discover the Philosopher's Stone a mythical object that was supposed to turn inexpensive
base metals into gold. In 1649, his experiments with distilled human urine resulted in the production
of a glowing white substance, which he named phosphorus.[3] He kept his discovery secret until
1680, when Robert Boyle rediscovered phosphorus and published his findings. The discovery of
phosphorus helped to raise the question of what it meant for a substance to be an element.
In 1661, Boyle defined an element as "a substance that cannot be broken down into a simpler
substance by a chemical reaction". This simple definition served for three centuries and lasted until
the discovery of subatomic particles.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier[edit]

Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier

Lavoisier's Trait lmentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry), which was written in
1789 and first translated into English by the writer Robert Kerr, is considered to be the first
modern textbook about chemistry. It contained a list of "simple substances" that Lavoisier believed
could not be broken down further, which
included oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, mercury, zinc and sulfur, which formed the basis
for the modern list of elements. Lavoisier's list also included 'light' and 'caloric', which at the time
were believed to be material substances. He has classified these substances into metals and non
metals. While many leading chemists refused to believe Lavoisier's new revelations, theElementary
Treatise was written well enough to convince the younger generation. However, Lavoisier's
descriptions of his elements lack completeness, as he only classified them as metals and nonmetals.