Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier: (1811-1877)

    Le Verrier was a very successful man.  On October 1846, Times carried the headlines " Le Verrier's planet found ". 

    Working independently of Adams, Le Verrier calculated the position of Neptune from irregularities in Uranus's orbit.  As one of his colleagues said "He discovered a star with the tip of his pen, without any instruments other than the strength of his calculations alone".

    In the eyes of all impartial men, this discovery will remain one of the most magnificent triumphs of theoretical astronomy, one of the glories of the Academie and one of the most beautiful distinctions of our country.

    Le Verrier discovered something in the motion of Mercury in 1855.  He spent much effort searching for asteroids inside the orbit of Mercury in an attempt to prove his theory.  But he died before he got the chance.