The Discovery of Neptune

Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1962. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 172 pages. The story of the discovery of the 8th planet reads like a cross between a detective story and a modern soap opera. Two brilliant mathematician/astronomers, one English (Adams) and one French (Leverrier); a conceited and arrogant astronomer Royal (Airy), and a host of observational astronomers. The Frenchman and Englishman do their calculations independently, to discover the position of the unseen planet beyond Uranus whose gravity is perturbing its orbit, and after a number of false starts and missteps, a German astronomer (Galle) finally points his telescope in the right direction and finds Neptune exactly where it was said to be. The Frenchman gets the credit because it was his directions the German was following. But the Englishman attempted, rightfully through the astronomer Royal, to have his calculations circulated and acted upon, only to be frustrated by Airy's neglect and outright incompetence, founded in arrogance. The ensuing debate pitted country against country and turned quite ugly. Fortunately, the two mathematicians never joined the struggle, but went on to become lifelong friends and mutual admirers. History was to grant Adams and Leverrier equal credit, along with the observer Galle, for the discovery of Neptune. Clean copy. Record # 385652