Which scientist published a widely used periodic table in 1869?

The story behind the answer

Which scientist published a widely used periodic table in 1869? Dmitri Mendeleev is the answer.

Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev published a landmark periodic table in 1869, organizing the known elements by increasing atomic weight and recurring chemical properties. His work became the foundation of the modern periodic law and earned him the enduring title “father of the periodic table.”

Mendeleev’s major insight was that the pattern mattered more than forcing every known element into a rigid sequence. He left gaps where an undiscovered element seemed necessary and predicted the properties of several missing elements. Later discoveries of gallium, scandium, and germanium closely matched his forecasts, powerfully validating his system.

Other scientists made important contributions. John Newlands proposed a “law of octaves,” and Lothar Meyer developed a similar classification around the same period. However, Mendeleev’s table had the greatest scientific influence because it made bold predictions and allowed corrections to accepted atomic weights. The 1869 arrangement was not identical to the modern table: today’s periodic table is ordered by atomic number, a principle established after the discovery of the atomic nucleus and the work of Henry Moseley.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: