Periodic table (detailed cells)
Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Mendeleev invented the table to illustrate recurring ("periodic") trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time, as new elements have been discovered, and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior.
Chemical affinity
The affinity concept was very closely linked to the visual representation of substances on a table. The first-ever "affinity table", which was based on displacement reactions, was published in 1718 by the French chemist Étienne François Geoffroy. Geoffroy's name is best known in connection with these tables of "affinities" ("tables des rapports"), which were first presented to the French Academy of Sciences in 1718 and 1720, as shown below: