1819-1892

English Astronomer

John Couch Adams was born to a farming family in rural Landeast, Cornwall. His mathematical abilities were evident at an early age, impressing teachers and earning him a scholarship at St. John's College, Cambridge. Graduating in 1843 with high marks, he had already become interested in the problem of Uranus's orbit, which varied from what was predicted using the laws developed by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Studying these discrepancies, Adams determined that there must be an additional, then undiscovered, planet beyond Uranus. This meant that when the unconfirmed planet was ahead of Uranus in its orbit, it would pull on Uranus, speeding it up in its orbit. Similarly, when Uranus pulled ahead of this planet, it would be slowed in its orbit. These were the discrepancies Adams and others had noted. The alternative, that Kepler's and Newton's laws were...