The Neptune File

An entertaining look at the discovery of Neptune (and Uranus), rather than a look at Neptune (and Uranus), revolving (no pun intended) around men of science with strong personalities.
John Couch Adams, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (yes that is just one person), George Airy, James Challis, Johann Galle all played parts, but it was the revolutionary mathematical theories of Adams and Le Verrier, undertaken at the same time in England and France respectively which made finding Neptune with a telescope possible.

Uranus was the key to Neptune - the reason being that astronomers were unable to resolve the path of Uranus with any certainty - predicted positions were aligned for a year or two, then Uranus went off script. It was Adams and Le Verrier who determined that Uranus was being influenced by another planet - one further from the sun. They set about making calculations to determine where the planet was - and in this way Neptune became the first of the planets to be located mathematically before it was witnessed by telescope. This was all 19th century.

For me it was an interesting book, outside of my immediate interests, but I was glad it came to a close when it did. Standage did well to limit the repetition of the story, which was told in part in non-linear timeline.

Interestingly the end of the book (which talks of the ‘modern' search methods for planets outside our solar system (published 2000, this is now out of date)) talks about Pluto, and foreshadows the removal of its ‘planet' status - (a dwarf-planet now apparently).

I enjoyed the many diagrams throughout the book which assisted in the simple explanations which separate this book from more academic or more detailed works. This is definitely a books for the novice, and I am not sure that those with a thorough understanding of the topic would benefit much from this book.

3.5 stars, rounded up.


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