Whose Birthday Is It? June 5, 2017

John Couch Adams (1819)

Before the planet Neptune was discovered, Adams—an English astronomer and mathematician—correctly predicted its existence and position based on irregularities in the motion of Uranus. However, the credit for the discovery went to Urbain Leverrier, who had come to the same conclusion later but published his findings earlier. In 1846, the planet was first observed by a German astronomer using Leverrier’s calculations. A modest man, Adams also declined to publish what other findings? More…