In search of planet Vulcan: the ghost in Newton's clockwork universe

Abstract

Presented for first time in popular form is fascinating true story of search for phantom planet Vulcan. As with legends of the lost continent of Atlantis, scientists and dreamers alike have sought to prove that Vulcan is more than just a myth. Historians of astronomy Richard Baum and William Sheehan have combed continents, digging through dusty letters and journals, to unravel this mysterious and captivating tale. The planet first assumed a shadowy reality against a backdrop of war and revolution early in nineteenth century. Le Verrier, autocratic Director of Paris Observatory, had unveiled a problem with motion of planet Mercury. The indications were of a planet closer to sun than Mercury. Incredibly, prediction was immediately fulfilled by an obscure French country doctor using no more than a homemade telescope. The planet, named for Roman god of fire, was no sooner discovered than it was lost. Still it reappeared often enough to tantalize even skeptics into considering its shadowy existence possible. This fast-paced tale follows exploits of Le Verrier, and later of his followers, in a pursuit of his unbridled obsessions: to extend universality of Newton's Laws, to prove Vulcan's existence, and to secure his place in history as one of greatest astronomers of his time. Stranger than fiction, story reaches an exciting climax in final showdown in unlikeliest of places: America's Wild West. Like gunslingers at high noon, determined astronomers of opposing camps brave Indians and elements in their attempt to prove once and for all whether planet exists. They congregate with some of most illustrious names of their time for final test: a grand eclipse of sun.