Sheehan, William (Editor)
Bell, Trudy E. (Editor)
Kennett, Carolyn (Editor)
Smith, Robert (Editor)
The 1846 discovery of Neptune is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of science and astronomy. John Couch Adams and U.J. Le Verrier both investigated anomalies in the motion of Uranus and independently predicted the existence and location of this new planet. However, interpretations of the events surrounding this discovery have long been mired in controversy. Who first predicted the new planet? Was the discovery just a lucky fluke? The ensuing storm engaged astronomers across Europe and the United States. Written by an international group of authors, this pathbreaking volume explores in unprecedented depth the contentious history of Neptune’s discovery, drawing on newly discovered documents and re-examining the historical record. In so doing, we gain new understanding of the actions of key individuals and sharper insights into the pressures acting on them. The discovery of Neptune was a captivating mathematical moment and was widely regarded at the time as the greatest triumph of Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. The book therefore begins with Newton’s development of his ideas of gravity. It examines too the mathematical calculations related to the discovery of Neptune, using new theories and tools provided by advances in celestial mechanics over the past twenty years. Through this process, the book analyzes why the mathematical approach that proved so potent in the discovery of Neptune, grand as it was, could not help produce similar discoveries despite several valiant attempts. In the final chapters, we see how the discovery of Neptune marked the end of one quest—to explain the wayward motions of Uranus—and the beginning of another quest to fill in the map and understand the nature of the outer Solar System, whose icy precincts Neptune, as the outermost of the giant planets, bounds.
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Article
Sheehan, William;
Thurber, Steven;
(2007)
John Couch Adams's Asperger Syndrome and the British Non-discovery of Neptune
(/isis/citation/CBB000772996/)
Article
Pascal Descamps;
(2015)
La découverte de Neptune: Entre triomphe et camouflet
(/isis/citation/CBB939335246/)
Article
Descamps, Pascal;
(2015)
La découverte de Neptune: Entre triomphe et camouflet
(/isis/citation/CBB001551994/)
Article
Schneider, Ivo;
(2000)
Kein britischer Anteil an der Entdeckung Neptuns
(/isis/citation/CBB000450081/)
Article
Kollerstrom, Nicholas;
(2006)
An Hiatus in History: The British Claim for Neptune's Co-prediction, 1845--1846: Part I
(/isis/citation/CBB000651738/)
Article
Kollerstrom, Nicholas;
(2009)
The Naming of Neptune
(/isis/citation/CBB001034790/)
Article
Kollerstrom, Nicholas;
(2006)
An Hiatus in History: The British Claim for Neptune's Co-prediction, 1845--1846: Part 2
(/isis/citation/CBB000671289/)
Article
Gapaillard, Jacques;
(2015)
By How Much Did Le Verrier Err on the Position of Neptune?
(/isis/citation/CBB001551751/)
Book
Carolyn Kennett;
(2023)
Uranus and Neptune
(/isis/citation/CBB555247881/)
Chapter
Enrico Peruzzi;
(2012)
Keplero e la natura degli enti matematici
(/isis/citation/CBB130474984/)
Book
Graziella Federici Vescovini;
Ahmad Hasnawi;
(2012)
Circolazione dei saperi nel Mediterraneo: filosofia e scienze (secoli IX-XVII)/Circulation des savoirs autour de la Méditerranée: philosophie et sciences (IXe-XVIIe siècle)
(/isis/citation/CBB182032380/)
Essay Review
Philippe Hamou;
Jean Celeyrette;
(2005)
'Un large champ de réflexions': visages récents de la recherche galiléenne
(/isis/citation/CBB746239057/)
Chapter
Danilo Capecchi;
(2017)
The Role of Mathematicians in the Development of Early Science. A New Insight
(/isis/citation/CBB324556894/)
Book
Pierre Caye;
Romano Nanni;
Pier Daniele Napolitani;
(2015)
Scienze e rappresentazioni. Saggi in onore di Pierre Souffrin
(/isis/citation/CBB407685518/)
Book
Silvio Bergia;
Giorgio Dragoni;
(2018)
Fisica: Scienza, storia e società
(/isis/citation/CBB359636481/)
Article
Yomna T. Elkholy;
(2020)
Ibn al-Haytham in Europe During Late Middle Ages and Renaissance
(/isis/citation/CBB729664946/)
Chapter
Patricia Radelet-de-Grave;
(2015)
La chute des corps, le mouvement des corps célestes et l'unification des mondes
(/isis/citation/CBB951522195/)
Chapter
Luigi Pepe;
(2015)
Lagrange tra meccanica e analisi
(/isis/citation/CBB154068535/)
Chapter
Pietro Daniel Omodeo;
(2015)
Riflessioni sul moto terrestre nel Rinascimento: tra filosofia naturale, meccanica e cosmologia
(/isis/citation/CBB678565435/)
Chapter
Michela Malpangotto;
(2015)
Il "Commentariolum" di Brudzewo e la sua influenza sulle riflessioni di Copernico
(/isis/citation/CBB358544237/)
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