[[Tom Standage]]'s [The Neptune File] is a compelling and highly readable account of the discovery of the eighth planet. Beginning with the state of knowledge at the opening of the 19th century with the recent discovery of Uranus by Herschel, Standage chronicles the task of English mathematician and astronomer John Couch Adams, who attempts - successfully and unsuccessfully, as it turns out - to calculate the orbit of the mystery object which must be present beyond the seventh planet's orbit. The story of how Adams is pipped at the post by French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier due to miscommunications with the British astronomy establishment, and the marvel finding an 8th planet where a century before only six had been known is surprisingly suspenseful, and highly entertaining. Standage is a capable and enjoyable writer, as readily demonstrated in his other books. Well worth a read. ( )

Adams, John Couch, 1819-1892/Neptune (Planet)/Planetology