John Couch Adams (; 5 June 1819 – 21 January 1892) was a British
mathematician and
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...
. He was born in
Laneast, near
Launceston, Cornwall
Launceston ( or , locally or , kw, Lannstevan; rarely spelled Lanson as a local abbreviation) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is west of the middle stage of the River Tamar, which ...
, and died in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...
.
His most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position of
Neptune, using only
mathematics. The calculations were made to explain discrepancies with
Uranus's
orbit and the
laws
Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...
of
Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
and
Newton. At the same time, but unknown to each other, the same calculations were made by
Urbain Le Verrier. Le Verrier would send his coordinates to Berlin Observatory astronomer
Johann Gottfried Galle, who confirmed the existence of the
planet on 23 September 1846, finding it within 1° of Le Verrier's predicted location. (There was, and to some extent still is, some controversy over the apportionment of credit for the discovery; see
Discovery of Neptune.)
Adams was
Lowndean Professor
The Lowndean chair of Astronomy and Geometry is one of the two major Professorships in Astronomy (alongside the Plumian Professorship) and a major Professorship in Mathematics at Cambridge University. It was founded in 1749 by Thomas Lowndes, an ...
in the
University of Cambridge from 1859 until his death. He won the
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1866. In 1884, he attended the
International Meridian Conference
The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. A ...
as a delegate for
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
.
A
crater
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
*Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
*Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
on the
Moon is jointly named after him,
Walter Sydney Adams
Walter Sydney Adams (December 20, 1876 – May 11, 1956) was an American astronomer.
Life and work
Adams was born in Antioch, Turkey, to Lucien Harper Adams and Nancy Dorrance Francis Adams, missionary parents, and was brought to the U.S. in ...
and
Charles Hitchcock Adams. Neptune's
outermost known ring and the
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
1996 Adams
1996 Adams, provisional designation , is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1961, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observat ...
are also named after him. The
Adams Prize
The Adams Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded by the University of Cambridge. It is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and St John's College to a UK-based mathematician for distinguis ...
, presented by the University of Cambridge, commemorates his prediction of the position of Neptune. His personal library is held at
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
.
Early life
Adams was born at Lidcot, a farm at
Laneast,
near
Launceston, Cornwall
Launceston ( or , locally or , kw, Lannstevan; rarely spelled Lanson as a local abbreviation) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is west of the middle stage of the River Tamar, which ...
, the eldest of seven children. His parents were Thomas Adams (1788–1859), a poor
tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is a person ( farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management ...
, and his wife, Tabitha Knill Grylls (1796–1866). The family were devout
Wesleyans who enjoyed music and among John's brothers, Thomas became a missionary, George a farmer, and
William Grylls Adams, professor of
natural philosophy and
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...
at
King's College London. Tabitha was a farmer's daughter but had received a rudimentary education from John Couch, her uncle, whose small library she had inherited. John was intrigued by the astronomy books from an early age.
John attended the Laneast village school where he acquired some
Greek and
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
. From there, he went, at the age of twelve, to
Devonport, where his mother's cousin, the Rev. John Couch Grylls, kept a private school. There he learned
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classi ...
but was largely self-taught in
mathematics, studying in the Library of
Devonport Mechanics' Institute and reading ''
Rees's Cyclopædia'' and
Samuel Vince
Samuel Vince FRS (6 April 1749 – 28 November 1821) was an English clergyman, mathematician and astronomer at the University of Cambridge.
Life
He was born in Fressingfield. The son of a plasterer, Vince was admitted as a sizar to Caius Colle ...
's ''Fluxions''. He observed
Halley's comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...
in 1835 from
Landulph
Landulph ( kw, Lanndhylyk) is a hamlet and a rural civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about 3 miles (5 km) north of Saltash in the St Germans Registration District.
The parish lies on the River Tamar (which ...
and the following year started to make his own astronomical calculations, predictions and observations, engaging in private tutoring to finance his activities.
In 1836, his mother inherited a small estate at
Badharlick
Badharlick ( kw, Bos Harlek, meaning ''Harlek's dwelling'') is a hamlet in the parish of Egloskerry, Cornwall, situated halfway between the villages of Tregeare and Egloskerry
Egloskerry ( kw, Egloskeri) is a village and civil parish in east C ...
and his promise as a mathematician induced his parents to send him to the
University of Cambridge.
In October 1839 he entered as a
sizar at
St John's College, graduating
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1843 as
senior wrangler and first
Smith's prizewinner of his year.
Discovery of Neptune
In 1821,
Alexis Bouvard had published astronomical tables of the
orbit of
Uranus, making predictions of future positions based on
Newton's laws of motion and
gravitation. Subsequent observations revealed substantial deviations from the tables, leading Bouvard to hypothesise some perturbing body. Adams learnt of the irregularities while still an undergraduate and became convinced of the "perturbation" theory. Adams believed, in the face of anything that had been attempted before, that he could use the observed data on Uranus, and utilising nothing more than Newton's law of gravitation, deduce the
mass, position and orbit of the perturbing body. On 3 July 1841, he noted his intention to work on the problem.
After his
final examination
A final examination, annual, exam, final interview, or simply final, is a test given to students at the end of a course of study or training. Although the term can be used in the context of physical training, it most often occurs in the ac ...
s in 1843, Adams was elected
fellow of his college and spent the summer vacation in Cornwall calculating the first of six iterations. While he worked on the problem back in Cambridge, he tutored undergraduates, sending money home to educate his brothers, and even taught his bed maker to read.
Apparently, Adams communicated his work to
James Challis, director of the
Cambridge Observatory
Cambridge Observatory is an astronomical observatory at the University of Cambridge in the East of England. It was established in 1823 and is now part of the site of the Institute of Astronomy. The old Observatory building houses the Institute ...
, in mid-September 1845, but there is some controversy as to how. On 21 October 1845, Adams, returning from a Cornwall vacation, without appointment, twice called on
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
George Biddell Airy in
Greenwich. Failing to find him at home, Adams reputedly left a manuscript of his solution, again without the detailed calculations. Airy responded with a letter to Adams asking for some clarification.
[
] It appears that Adams did not regard the question as "trivial", as is often alleged, but he failed to complete a response. Various theories have been discussed as to Adams's failure to reply, such as his general nervousness, procrastination and disorganisation.
Meanwhile,
Urbain Le Verrier, on 10 November 1845, presented to the ''
Académie des sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...
'' in Paris a memoir on Uranus, showing that the preexisting theory failed to account for its motion.
On reading Le Verrier's memoir, Airy was struck by the coincidence and initiated a desperate race for English priority in discovery of the planet. The search was begun by a laborious method on 29 July.
Only after the discovery of Neptune on 23 September 1846 had been announced in Paris did it become apparent that Neptune had been observed on 8 and 12 August but because Challis lacked an up-to-date star-map it was not recognized as a planet.
A keen controversy arose in France and England as to the merits of the two astronomers. As the facts became known, there was wide recognition that the two astronomers had independently solved the problem of Uranus, and each was ascribed equal importance.
However, there have been subsequent assertions that "The Brits Stole Neptune" and that Adams's British contemporaries retrospectively ascribed him more credit than he was due.
But it is also notable (and not included in some of the foregoing discussion references) that Adams himself publicly acknowledged Le Verrier's priority and credit (not forgetting to mention the role of Galle) in the paper that he gave 'On the Perturbations of Uranus' to the Royal Astronomical Society in November 1846:
Adams held no bitterness towards Challis or Airy
and acknowledged his own failure to convince the astronomical world:
Work style
His lay fellowship at St John's College came to an end in 1852, and the existing statutes did not permit his re-election. However,
Pembroke College, which possessed greater freedom, elected him in the following year to a lay fellowship which he held for the rest of his life.
Despite the fame of his work on Neptune, Adams also did much important work on gravitational astronomy and terrestrial magnetism. He was particularly adept at fine numerical calculations, often making substantial revisions to the contributions of his predecessors.
However, he was "extraordinarily uncompetitive, reluctant to publish imperfect work to stimulate debate or claim priority, averse to correspondence about it, and forgetful in practical matters".
It has been suggested that these are
symptoms of
Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavi ...
which would also be consistent with the "repetitive behaviours and restricted interests" necessary to perform the Neptune calculations, in addition to his difficulties in personal interaction with Challis and Airy.
In 1852, he published new and accurate tables of the Moon's
parallax, which superseded
Johann Karl Burckhardt
Johann Karl Burckhardt (30 April 1773 – 22 June 1825) was a German-born astronomer and mathematician. He later became a naturalized French citizen and became known as Jean Charles Burckhardt. He is remembered in particular for his work in funda ...
's, and supplied corrections to the theories of
Marie-Charles Damoiseau
Baron Marie-Charles-Théodore de Damoiseau de Montfort (6 April 1768 in Besançon – 6 August 1846) was a French astronomer.
Damoiseau was originally an artillery officer but he left France in 1792 during the French Revolution. He worked a ...
,
Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana, and
Philippe Gustave Doulcet.
He had hoped that this work would leverage him into the vacant post as superintendent of
HM Nautical Almanac Office
His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), now part of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, was established in 1832 on the site of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG), where ''The Nautical Almanac'' had been published since 1767. HMNAO ...
but
John Russell Hind
John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer.
Life and work
John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at N ...
was preferred, Adams lacking the necessary ability as an organiser and administrator.
Lunar theory — Secular acceleration of the Moon
Since ancient times, the
Moon's mean rate of motion relative to the stars had been treated as being constant, but in 1695,
Edmond Halley
Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.
From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Hal ...
had suggested that this mean rate was gradually increasing. Later, during the eighteenth century,
Richard Dunthorne
Richard Dunthorne (1711 – 3 March 1775) was an English astronomer and surveyor, who worked in Cambridge as astronomical and scientific assistant to Roger Long (master of Pembroke Hall and Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry), Library ...
estimated the rate as +10" (arcseconds/century
2) in terms of the resulting difference in lunar longitude, an effect that became known as the ''secular acceleration of the Moon''.
Pierre-Simon Laplace
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...
had given an
explanation in 1787 in terms of changes in the
eccentricity of the Earth's orbit. He considered only the radial gravitational force on the Moon from the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
and Earth but obtained close agreement with the historical record of observations.
In 1820, at the insistence of the ''
Académie des sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...
'', Damoiseau, Plana and
Francesco Carlini
Francesco Carlini (January 7, 1783 – August 29, 1862) was an Italian astronomer. Born in Milan, he became director of the Brera Astronomical Observatory there in 1832. He published ''Nuove tavole de moti apparenti del sole'' in 1832. In 1810, ...
revisited Laplace's work, investigating
quadratic and higher-order perturbing terms, and obtained similar results, again addressing only a radial, and neglecting tangential, gravitational force on the Moon. Hansen obtained similar results in 1842 and 1847.
[
]
In 1853, Adams published a paper showing that, while tangential terms vanish in the first-order theory of Laplace, they become substantial when quadratic terms are admitted. Small terms
integrated in time come to have large effects and Adams concluded that Plana had overestimated the secular acceleration by approximately 1.66" per century.
At first, Le Verrier rejected Adams's results.
In 1856, Plana admitted Adams's conclusions, claiming to have revised his own analysis and arrived at the same results. However, he soon recanted, publishing a third result different both from Adams's and Plana's own earlier work. Delaunay in 1859 calculated the fourth-order term and duplicated Adams's result leading Adams to publish his own calculations for the fifth, sixth and seventh-order terms. Adams now calculated that only 5.7" of the observed 11" was accounted for by gravitational effects.
Later that year, Philippe Gustave Doulcet, Comte de Pontécoulant published a claim that the tangential force could have no effect though
Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen (born 8 December 1795, Tønder, Schleswig, Denmark; died 28 March 1874, Gotha, Thuringia, Germany) was a Danish-born German astronomer.
Biography
The son of a goldsmith, Hansen learned the trade of a watchmaker at Flensburg, ...
, who seems to have cast himself in the role of
arbitrator, declared that the
burden of proof rested on Pontécoulant, while lamenting the need to discover a further effect to account for the balance. Much of the controversy centred around the
convergence
Convergence may refer to:
Arts and media Literature
*''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen
* "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics:
**A four-part crossover storyline that united the four Wei ...
of the
power series expansion
In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form
\sum_^\infty a_n \left(x - c\right)^n = a_0 + a_1 (x - c) + a_2 (x - c)^2 + \dots
where ''an'' represents the coefficient of the ''n''th term and ''c'' is a cons ...
used and, in 1860, Adams duplicated his results without using a power series. Sir
John Lubbock also duplicated Adams's results and Plana finally concurred. Adams's view was ultimately accepted and further developed, winning him the
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1866.
The unexplained drift is now known to be due to
tidal acceleration
Tidal acceleration is an effect of the tidal forces between an orbiting natural satellite (e.g. the Moon) and the primary planet that it orbits (e.g. Earth). The acceleration causes a gradual recession of a satellite in a prograde orbit away from ...
.
In 1858 Adams became professor of mathematics at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, but lectured only for a session, before returning to Cambridge for the Lowndean professorship of astronomy and geometry. Two years later he succeeded Challis as director of the
Cambridge Observatory
Cambridge Observatory is an astronomical observatory at the University of Cambridge in the East of England. It was established in 1823 and is now part of the site of the Institute of Astronomy. The old Observatory building houses the Institute ...
, a post Adams held until his death.
The Leonids
The great
meteor shower of November 1866 turned his attention to the
Leonids
The Leonids ( ) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle, which are also known for their spectacular meteor storms that occur about every 33 years. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant ...
, whose probable path and period had already been discussed and predicted by
Hubert Anson Newton
Prof Hubert Anson Newton FRS HFRSE (19 March 1830 – 12 August 1896), usually cited as H. A. Newton, was an American astronomer and mathematician, noted for his research on meteors.
Biography
Newton was born at Sherburne, New York, and gradu ...
in 1864. Newton had asserted that the
longitude of the ascending node, that marked where the shower would occur, was increasing and the problem of explaining this variation attracted some of Europe's leading astronomers.
Using a powerful and elaborate analysis, Adams ascertained that this cluster of meteors, which belongs to the
Solar System, traverses an elongated ellipse in 33.25 years, and is subject to definite perturbations from the larger planets, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. These results were published in 1867.
Some experts consider this Adams's most substantial achievement. His "definitive orbit" for the Leonids coincided with that of the
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are ...
55P/Tempel-Tuttle and thereby suggested the, later widely accepted, close relationship between comets and meteors.
Later career
Ten years later,
George William Hill described a novel and elegant method for attacking the problem of lunar motion. Adams briefly announced his own unpublished work in the same field, which, following a parallel course had confirmed and supplemented Hill's.
Over a period of forty years, he periodically addressed the determination of the constants in
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...
's theory of
terrestrial magnetism. Again, the calculations involved great labour, and were not published during his lifetime. They were edited by his brother,
William Grylls Adams, and appear in the second volume of the collected ''Scientific Papers''. Numerical computation of this kind might almost be described as his pastime.
He calculated the
Euler–Mascheroni constant, perhaps somewhat eccentrically, to 236
decimal places and evaluated the
Bernoulli numbers
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions ...
up to the 62nd.
Adams had boundless admiration for Newton and his writings and many of his papers bear the cast of Newton's thought.
In 1872,
Isaac Newton Wallop, 5th Earl of Portsmouth, donated his private collection of Newton's papers to
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. Adams and
G. G. Stokes
Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish English physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he was the Luc ...
took on the task of arranging the material, publishing a catalogue in 1888.
The post of
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
was offered him in 1881, but he preferred to pursue his teaching and research in Cambridge. He was British delegate to the
International Meridian Conference
The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. A ...
at
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
in 1884, when he also attended the meetings of the British Association at
Montreal and of the American Association at
Philadelphia.
Honours
* 1847 He is reputed to have been offered a knighthood on
Queen Victoria's 1847 Cambridge visit but to have declined, either out of modesty,
or fear of the financial consequences of such social distinction;
* 1847 Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
;
*1848
Copley medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...
of the
Royal Society;
*1848
Adams Prize
The Adams Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded by the University of Cambridge. It is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and St John's College to a UK-based mathematician for distinguis ...
, founded by the members of St John's College, to be given biennially for the best treatise on a mathematical subject;
*1849 Elected
Fellow of the Royal Society of London and Honorary
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh;
*1851 and 1874 President of the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
(1851–1853 and 1874–1876).
Family and death
After a long illness, Adams died at Cambridge on 21 January 1892 and was buried near his home in St Giles Cemetery, now the
Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge. In 1863 he had married Miss Eliza Bruce (1827–1919), of
Dublin, who survived him, and is buried with him.
His wealth at death was £32,434 (£2.6 million at 2003 prices).
Memorials
*Memorial in
Westminster Abbey with a portrait medallion, by
Albert Bruce-Joy
Albert Bruce-Joy (21 August 1842 – 22 July 1924) was an Irish sculptor working in England. His original surname was Joy but he became known under his hyphenated name Bruce-Joy later in life.
He was the brother of the painter George W. Joy.
...
;
*A bust, by Joy in the hall of St John's College, Cambridge;
*Another youthful bust belongs to the Royal Astronomical Society;
*Portraits by:
**
Hubert von Herkomer
Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...
in Pembroke College;
**
Paul Raphael Montord in the combination room of St John's;
*A memorial tablet, with an inscription by
Archbishop Benson, in
Truro Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It i ...
;
*
Passmore Edwards
John Passmore Edwards M.P. (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)ODNB article by A. J. A. Morris, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200 accessed 15 ...
erected a public institute in his honour at Launceston, near his birthplace;
*
Adams Nunatak, a
nunatak
A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...
on Neptune Glacier in
Alexander Island
Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarcti ...
in Antarctica, is named after him.
Obituaries
*''
The Times'', 22 January 1892, p. 6 col.d
link on this page
*
*
*
*
non.(1891–92) ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' 2: 196–7
About Adams and the discovery of Neptune
*
* from
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libra ...
*
*
*Doggett, L. E. (1997) "Celestial mechanics", in
*
*
*
*Harrison, H. M (1994). ''Voyager in Time and Space: The Life of John Couch Adams, Cambridge Astronomer''. Lewes: Book Guild,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
By Adams
*Adams, J. C., ed. W. G. Adams &
R. A. Sampson (1896–1900) ''The Scientific Papers of John Couch Adams'', 2 vols, London: Cambridge University Press, with a memoir by
J. W. L. Glaisher:
**Vol.1 (1896) Previously published writings;
**Vol.2 (1900) Manuscripts including the substance of his lectures on the Lunar Theory.
*Adams, J. C., ed. R. A. Sampson (1900
''Lectures on the Lunar Theory'' London: Cambridge University Press
*A collection, virtually complete, of Adams's papers regarding the discovery of Neptune was presented by Mrs Adams to the library of St John's College, see: Sampson (1904), and also:
**"The collected papers of Prof. Adams", ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'', 7 (1896–97)
**''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', 53 184;
**''Observatory'', 15 174;
**''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
'', 34 565; 45 301;
**''Astronomical Journal'', No.254;
**R. Grant, ''History of Physical Astronomy'', p. 168; and
**''
Edinburgh Review'', No.381, p. 72.
*The papers were ultimately lodged with the Royal Greenwich Observatory and evacuated to
Herstmonceux Castle
Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built castle, dating from the 15th century, near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England. It is one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England. The castle was renowned for being one of the f ...
during World War II. After the war, they were stolen by
Olin J. Eggen
Olin Jeuck Eggen (July 9, 1919 – October 2, 1998) was an American astronomer.
Biography
Olin Jeuck Eggen was born to Olin Eggen and Bertha Clare Jeuck in the village of Orfordville in Rock County, Wisconsin. Both of his parents were of Nor ...
and only recovered in 1998, hampering much historical research in the subject.
See also
*
Intrigue at RAS and Cambridge Observatory from the biography of
Richard Christopher Carrington
References
External links
*
Biography on the St Andrews database*
*
*
*
*
* Davor Krajnovic
John Couch Adams: mathematical astronomer, college friend of George Gabriel Stokes and promotor of women in astronomy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Couch
1819 births
1892 deaths
People from Launceston, Cornwall
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
19th-century British astronomers
19th-century English mathematicians
Lowndean Professors of Astronomy and Geometry
Fellows of the Royal Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Neptune
Scientists from Cornwall
Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Senior Wranglers
Methodist Church of Great Britain people
Cornish Methodists
19th-century Methodists
Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of St Andrews
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society
Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities