Searching the skies for a planet's subtle tug.(Features)(Ideas)

From: The Christian Science Monitor | Date: November 30, 2000 | Copyright information

John Couch Adams could have used a Web page. England's brilliant 19th-century mathematician solved the leading astronomical puzzle of his day - deducing the existence of an unseen outer planet from its effect on Uranus's orbit. But thanks to quirky snail mail and bumbling confidantes, the initial honors for detecting what we now call Neptune went to the equally great, publicity-minded French mathematician Urbain Jean-Joseph le Verrier.

Working independently, le Verr...

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