Biography
John Adams (1819-1892)
John Couch Adams was born on 5th June 1819 in Leanest, England.
He studied at St. John's College of Cambridge. In 1845 Adams gave accurate information on the motions of Uranus to the director of Cambridge Observatory, he discovered a new planet, Neptune, but his prediction was published after Le Verrier's. (Le Verrier was another important astronomer).
In 1866 Adams studied the connection between the orbit of the meteor shower and the orbit of a comet. He concluded that the meteor shower was associated with the comet.
He became the Regius Professor of Mathematics at St. Andrew in 1858, Professor of Astronomy and Geometry in Cambridge in 1859 and the Director of the Cambridge Observatory in 1861. Adams also studied terrestrial magnetism and gave the most accurate description of the motion of the Moon.
He was a man of great learning, he studied history, literature, biology and geology. He never boasted of his achievements and in fact he refused a knighthood which was offered in 1847.
He died on 21st January 1892 in Cambridge.
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