Astronomical Discovery

If we should desire to classify discoveries in order of merit, we must undoubtedly give a high place to those which are made under direct discouragements. In the last chapter we...

In the last chapter we saw that the circumstances under which planets were discovered varied considerably. Sometimes the discoveries were not previously expected, occurring duri...

Discovery is expected from an astronomer. The lay mind scarcely thinks of a naturalist nowadays discovering new animals, or of a chemist as finding new elements save on rare occ...

In reviewing various types of astronomical discovery I have laid some stress upon the fact that they are, generally speaking, far from being accidental in character. A new plane...

In examining different types of astronomical discovery, we shall find certain advantages in varying to some extent the method of presentation. In the two previous chapters our o...

In preceding chapters we have reviewed discoveries, some of which have been made as a result of a deliberate search, and others accidentally in the course of work directed to a...

is undoubtedly an element of "luck" in most discoveries. "The biggest strokes are all luck," writes a brother astronomer who had done me the honour to glance at a few pages, "bu...