The Neptune File is the first full account of the dramatic events surrounding the eighth planet's discovery, and the story of two remarkable men who were able to "see" on paper what astronomers looking through telescopes for more than 200 years had overlooked. In June, 1941, John Couch Adams, a brilliant young mathematician at Cambridge University, chanced upon a report by England's Astronomer Royal, George Airy, describing unsuccessful attempts to explain the mystifying orbital behavior of the plan Uranus, discovered 65 years earlier. Adams theorized that Uranus's orbit was being affected by the gravitational pull of another, as-yet-unseen planet. Four years later, his daring mathematical calculations pinpointed the planet's location, but George Airy failed to act on them - a controversial lapse that would have international repercussions. The Neptune File is a crackling good human drama and a fascinating exploration of the science that underpins planetary astronomy. 240 pages, including notes, sources, and index. The jacket is scuffed. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

NEPTUNE PLANET PLANETARY THEORY ASTRONOMY