Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794)

Antoine Lavoisier established that elements were the fundamental building

blocks of chemical substances. He examined their properties and organised
materials into four groups or elements. Lavoisier defined element as a
substance that could not be decomposed into simpler substances. His
classification identified four groups of elements: metals, non-metals, elastic
fluids (gases) and earths in 1789. Some of these elements (earths) were much
later shown to be compounds. Lavoisier also outlined the importance of
gravimetric analysis and the idea of conservation of mass.
Johann Dobereiner (1780-1849)
Between 1817 and 1829 he observed chemical similarity between groups of 3
elements, known as triads, arranged by atomic weight. He noticed that the
properties of the element in the middle were intermediate between the other two
and that the atomic weight of the middle element was approximately an average
of the other 2. E.g. Lithium, Sodium and Potassium (he noticed that reactivity
increases from left to right).
Alexandre-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois
Alexandre-Emile Bguyer de Chancourtois, a French geologist, was the first
person to notice the periodicity of the elements similar elements occurring at
regular intervals when they are ordered by their atomic weights. In 1862 he
devised an early form of periodic table, which he named Vis tellurique, after the
element tellurium. With the elements arranged in a spiral on a cylinder by order
of increasing atomic weight, de Chancourtois saw that elements with similar
properties lined up vertically.
John Newlands (1837-1898)
After Dobereiner not much classification was done due to limited data on atomic
weight. In 1864 Newlands published a table in increasing atomic weight, leaving
spaces for undiscovered elements. In 1866 his table was divided into 8 columns
and 7 rows with some elements in the same position. He described his
observation (an element was chemically and physically similar with that 8
positions away) as the law of octaves. This law was inaccurate as non-metals and
metals were not differentiated and it wasnt all accurate. Awarded Davy medal.
Lothar Meyer (1830-1895)
Around the same time as Mendeleev, Meyer also developed a periodic system of
classification. Meyers table consisted of 56 elements, and their periodic nature
was visually displayed in his graphs of physical property vs atomic weight as a
function. More generalisations could be made with Mendeleevs table as he
incorporated chemical properties hence it was superior. Both scientists were
awarded a Davy Medal in 1882.
Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907)
He organised the elements based on atomic weight and in terms of physical and
chemical properties. He also left spaces for undiscovered elements, and if the
atomic mass wasnt accurate he would organise it based on chemical/physical
property. He believed that the gaps, of the undiscovered elements, that their

properties could be determined based on trends. In 1871 a table was published

with 8 groups and 12 series. Elements with similar chemical properties were in
the same group and there was gradation of physical properties down a group. He
noticed the periodic relationship between the elements (repeating every
series/period). He was known to make predictions of undiscovered elements
based on trends and its neighbouring elements for e.g. germanium (eka-silicon).
Its properties were determined in 1871 but when germanium was first discovered
in 1886 its properties were very close to those proposed by Mendeleev.
Henry Moseley (1887-1915)
In 1913 Dutch physicist Anton van den Broek suggested that elements be
arranged based on the charge of their nucleus and to test this Moseley
undertook many experiments in 1912 and 1913, investigating the X-Ray spectra
of ten consecutive elements. He noticed a mathematical relationship between
the X-ray frequency and a fundamental quantity of each element. He stated that
There is in the atom a fundamental quantity, which increases by regular steps
as we pass from one element to the next. This fundamental quantity later
became the atomic number.