The St Andrews Periodic Table Wallchart and its Use in Teaching

Abstract

An early surviving copy of a periodic table of the elements wallchart is described and it is compared with other early versions of the periodic table. The status of chemistry teaching in St Andrews at the time and particularly the lectures of Professor Thomas Purdie are considered to show the context in which this periodic table would have been used and gain some appreciation of it pedagogical importance.

Keywords

• Periodic table wallcharts
• Thomas Purdie
• teaching tools