The World's Oldest Poster: Periodic Table from 1885 Discovered in Scotland

Poster Resembles Mendeleev's Second Version from 1871

The historic poster shows the chemical elements known at the time with their atomic numbers. It resembles the second version of the periodic table, which Mendeleev published in 1871, but also shows some differences. For example, the elements gallium and scandium, discovered in 1875 and 1879, are listed, but not germanium, which was found in 1886.

Mendeleev Revolutionized Chemistry with the Periodic Table

Dmitri Mendeleev is considered the father of the periodic table. With his arrangement of the elements according to increasing atomic mass and the prediction of still unknown elements, he revolutionized chemistry. The periodic table makes statements about the properties of an element based on its position and enables predictions about its behavior. It remains the fundamental organizing principle of chemistry to this day.

Poster Purchased in 1888 for Chemistry Teaching at St. Andrews

Research in the archives of the University of St. Andrews revealed that the periodic table poster was printed in Vienna in 1885 and purchased by the Scottish university in 1888 for the equivalent of 3 marks for chemistry teaching. "It is remarkable that the oldest teaching chart of the periodic table was discovered at our university," says chemistry professor David O'Hagan.

The discovery of the historic poster in 2019 is a fortunate coincidence - because the UN declared 2019 the "International Year of the Periodic Table" on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mendeleev's first publication. The poster provides a fascinating insight into how the periodic table of elements was used as teaching material shortly after its discovery.