The Contribution Of John Newlands To The Historical Development Of The Periodic Table
The contribution of John Newlands to the historical development of the periodic table
John Newlands was a nineteenth century London born chemist. He was one of the very first scientists to establish a system of classification of the elements, only sixty of which had been discovered when he was alive. He was home schooled but went on to train at the Royal College of Chemistry.
It was he who first organised the elements in order of their relative atomic mass, although similar work had already been undertaken by German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner several decades earlier. A French chemist, Jean-Baptiste Dumas had also previously worked on atomic mass.
In 1865, Newlands published the law of octaves which stated that certain elements in the table he established bore similar physical properties thus allowing them to be grouped into seven individual categories. The law was named after musical octaves.
Newlands’ table contained approximately sixty elements starting with helium and ending with thorium. The periods in Newlands’ table were shown vertically in contrast to the table we know today where they are shown horizontally. Some scientists from the Royal Society of Chemistry thought his table was nonsense saying that he may as well have listed the elements in alphabetical order. His table gained little critical acclaim and the Royal Society of Chemistry refused to publish it.
Four years later, Dimitri Mendeleev created his improved version of the periodic table similar to the table we know today. It gained a lot more acclaim than Newlands’s table especially as Mendeleev left gaps for yet-to-be discovered elements. Mendeleev received the Davy award for his discovery but this upset Newlands as he claimed he discovered the table first. Later in 1887, he too received the award as he fought for recognition. He persevered in his efforts to gain full acclaim but was unsuccessful until after his death.
Newlands only received full recognition from the Royal Society of
John Newlands was a nineteenth century London born chemist. He was one of the very first scientists to establish a system of classification of the elements, only sixty of which had been discovered when he was alive. He was home schooled but went on to train at the Royal College of Chemistry.
It was he who first organised the elements in order of their relative atomic mass, although similar work had already been undertaken by German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner several decades earlier. A French chemist, Jean-Baptiste Dumas had also previously worked on atomic mass.
In 1865, Newlands published the law of octaves which stated that certain elements in the table he established bore similar physical properties thus allowing them to be grouped into seven individual categories. The law was named after musical octaves.
Newlands’ table contained approximately sixty elements starting with helium and ending with thorium. The periods in Newlands’ table were shown vertically in contrast to the table we know today where they are shown horizontally. Some scientists from the Royal Society of Chemistry thought his table was nonsense saying that he may as well have listed the elements in alphabetical order. His table gained little critical acclaim and the Royal Society of Chemistry refused to publish it.
Four years later, Dimitri Mendeleev created his improved version of the periodic table similar to the table we know today. It gained a lot more acclaim than Newlands’s table especially as Mendeleev left gaps for yet-to-be discovered elements. Mendeleev received the Davy award for his discovery but this upset Newlands as he claimed he discovered the table first. Later in 1887, he too received the award as he fought for recognition. He persevered in his efforts to gain full acclaim but was unsuccessful until after his death.
Newlands only received full recognition from the Royal Society of