1749-1826

German Astronomer and Mathematician

German mathematician and astronomer Johann Elert Bode was seemingly born to teach the world about the wonders of astronomy. The child of well-educated parents, Bode early on developed a passion for astronomy and higher mathematics, and only slightly later began publishing accounts of what he had learned and observed. A prodigy, Bode published his first astronomical treatises while he was a teenager.

In 1772, still in his early twenties, Bode accepted a position as a mathematician at the prestigious Berlin Academy. The key benefit for Bode was his supervision of the Academy's yearbook, an annual publication aimed at distilling astronomical information and charts, as well as recapitulating leading scientific discoveries of the time. Before Bode, the yearbook had lost some of its luster, but he applied himself to restoring its reputation for accuracy and thoroughness, with the result that sales...