Periodic table
The organization of the periodic table can be used to derive relationships between the various element properties, and also to predict chemical properties and behaviours of undiscovered or newly synthesized elements. Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev published the first recognizable periodic table in 1869, developed mainly to illustrate periodic trends of the then-known elements. He also predicted some properties of unidentified elements that were expected to fill gaps within the table. Most of his forecasts proved to be correct. Mendeleev's idea has been slowly expanded and refined with the discovery or synthesis of further new elements and the development of new theoretical models to explain chemical behaviour. The modern periodic table now provides a useful framework for analyzing chemical reactions, and continues to be widely used in chemistry, nuclear physics and other sciences.
Edgar James Banks
Banks is credited with the discovery of the Plimpton 322 tablet in Southern Iraq. It is believed to be the world’s oldest trigonometric table, predating Hipparchus by around 1000 years and, using base 60, also the most accurate trigonometric table, avoiding inexact numbers. It thus displayed knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem long before the birth of Pythagoras himself. The ancient cuneiform tablet was sold to the New York publisher George Arthur Plimpton, reportedly for $10. It was housed in Plimpton's private collection before being donated to Columbia University upon Plimpton's death. The artifact, now famously known as Plimpton 322 (denoting that it is the 322nd item in the catalog), has provided great insight into the Babylonian era mathematics.