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The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting Hardcover - 2000
by Tom Standage
Summary
A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet HuntingThe 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 never seen.On June 26, 1841, 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 planet Uranus, discovered 65 years earlier. Adams theorized that Uranus’s orbit was being affected by the gravitational pull of another, as-yet-unseen planet. Furthermore, he believed that he did not need to see the planet to know where it was. Four years later, his daring mathematical calculations pinpointed the planet’s location, but Airy failed to act on them—a controversial lapse that would have international repercussions.Soon after Adams’s “proof,” a rival French astronomer, Urbain Le Verrier, also calculated the planet’s position, and the race was on to actually view it. Found just where Adams and Le Verrier had predicted, the planet was named Neptune—and as the first celestial object located through calculation rather than observation, its discovery pioneered a new method for planet hunting.Drawing on long-lost documents in George Airy’s Neptune scrapbook, which resurfaced at an observatory in Chile in 1999. The Neptune File is a tale of heroes and cranks, amateur astronomers, and knighted celebrities. And the tale continues to unfold. Though 150 years would pass before another planet was “calculated,” since the 1995 discovery of a planet circling star 51 Pegasi dozens of planets have been detected in orbit around distant stars. Yet none of them has ever been seen. Their discovery—and the history of science—owes much to the two men who dared to first place celestial calculation before observation.
Details
- Title The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
- Author Tom Standage
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 256
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Walker Books, New York
- Date October 1, 2000
- Illustrated Yes
- ISBN 9780802713636 / 0802713637
- Weight 0.96 lbs (0.44 kg)
- Dimensions 8.34 x 5.97 x 0.96 in (21.18 x 15.16 x 2.44 cm)
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 00043486
- Dewey Decimal Code 523.481
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The Neptune File : A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
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The Neptune File
by Standage, Tom
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The Neptune File : A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
by Tom Standage
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The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
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The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
by Standage, Tom
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Walker Books, 2000-10-01. Hardcover. Very Good+/Very Good- Dust Jacket. 1st edition, 1st printing. From a private collection. Tight and clean, with sharp corners. Unclipped DJ has rubbing. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
by Standage, Tom
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Hardcover - 240 pages (October 1, 2000) Walker & Company; ISBN: 0802713637 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.96 x 8.34 x 5.97.First edition. Some rubbing of foil cover (probably a common problem because of nature of cover), otherwise near fine book in very good plus dust jacket..
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The Neptune File : A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting
by Standage, Tom
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New York, NY, U.S.A.: Walker & Company, 2000, 2000. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Dust Jacket Included. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Very good hard cover with very good dust jacket. 1st printing. 240 pages.
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