Born March 11, 1811 in Saint-Lô, Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier was a French astronomer who predicted by mathematical means the existence of the planet Neptune.
Appointed professor of astronomy at the École Polytechnique (“Ecole Polytechnique”) in Paris in 1837, Le Verrier conducted for the first time an extensive study of the theory of the orbit of the planet Mercury and compiled improved tables of the motion of that planet.
In 1845 he turned his attention to the irregular orbit of Uranus, which he explained by assuming the presence of a previously unknown planet. Independent of the English astronomer John C. Adams, he calculated the size and position of the unknown body and asked the German astronomer Johann G. Galle to search for it. On September 23, 1846, after only an hour of searching, Galle found Neptune within one degree of the position calculated by Le Verrier. As a result of this achievement, Le Verrier He received, among other awards, the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London and was made an officer of the Legion of Honor. A chair of astronomy was created for him at the University of Paris.
In 1854, Le Verrier he became director of the Paris Observatory. He reestablished the efficiency of this institution, but some of the uncompromising measures he took provoked a storm of protest that was quelled only by his removal from office in 1870. On the death of his successor in 1873 he was reinstated, but his authority was restricted by the supervision of an observatory council.