Döbereiner's discovery refers to the classification of elements into groups known as "triads." In the early 19th century, German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner observed that certain groups of three elements, such as lithium, sodium, and potassium, exhibited similar chemical properties and that the atomic weight of the middle element was approximately the average of the other two. This early attempt at organizing elements based on their properties laid the groundwork for the development of the Periodic Table.