Final answer:
De Chancourtois was the first scientist to recognize a periodic pattern to the properties of the elements, which led to his creation of the 'telluric screw,' a precursor to the periodic table.
Step-by-step explanation:
De Chancourtois was the first scientist to recognize a periodic pattern to the properties of the elements, which foreshadowed the development of the periodic table. While Dmitri Mendeleev is often credited with the first widely recognized periodic table, de Chancourtois made an earlier attempt at organizing the known elements. He created a helical arrangement of the elements arranged by increasing atomic weight, which he called the 'telluric screw.' This was a significant step towards the modern periodic table, as it illustrated that elements with similar properties occurred at regular intervals. Unfortunately, his work was not widely recognized at the time due to its complexity and the 3D nature of the helix model which was difficult for his contemporaries to understand.