British Astronomer
Adams was born in the small Cornish town of
Launceston, where his father was a tenant farmer. He graduated in 1843 from
Cambridge University and became Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry in
1858. In 1860, he was appointed director of the Cambridge Observatory.
His fame rests largely on the dramatic
events surrounding the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, independently
of Leverrier, the French astronomer. Adam's calculations, however, were ignored
by Airy until Leverrier had published his own prediction. Later, James Challis
and John Herchel were publicly pointed out that Adam's work had priority over
Leverrier.
Adams later worked on the perturbations of
the planets (1866), and on the secular variation of the mean motion of the Moon
(1852), both difficult questions of mathematical astronomy. His scientific
papers were published by his brother in two volumes in 1876 and 1901.
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