Tuesday 27 June 2017

The man who predicted Neptune

A boy born in abject poverty in the alpine region south of Lake Geneva 250 years ago grew up to be one of the greatest mathematical astronomers. I must admit I had heard of Laplace and le Verrier, but not of the man who contributed greatly to their work, Alexis Bouvard. At least the Australians have a constant physical reminder in the shape of Cape Bouvard in Western Australia.

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