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Astro*Dictionary by Michael Erlewine

 

 

 

 

1 article for "Airy, Sir George Biddell"

Airy, Sir George Biddell [Astro*Index]

(1801-1892) English astronomer and mathematician.

Born at Alnwick, Northumberland; died at Greenwich. The 7th Astronomer Royal, he held the post for 45 years; he modernized the Greenwich Observatory, but ran it as a conceited, envious, petty tyrant. He is remembered as the villain in the drama of the life of J.C. Adams, whose calculations for Uranus indicated the existence of another planet. Airy failed to make the necessary search, and credit for the discovery went to Leverrier, rather than to Adams.

See also:
♦ Adams, John Couch ♦ Leverrier, Urbain Jean Joseph ♦ Neptune

 

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