Eugène Lagrange

“ This was what happened with Bessel, and the flame that was lighted in his spirit was never extinguished.
The young man had read in his new book how, from the observation of the stars, one might calculate the geographical position of the spot where he happened to he. He sought to know why this was so. For this purpose he had to study mathematics from its rudiments, and was thus led up rapidly to spherical astronomy. He had to be continually introducing the elements of the position of the sun and moon into his calculations, taking them from an astronomical calendar. ”

“ Leverrier, who died Director of the Paris Observatory, and who occupied himself more than any other astronomer with calculations of the motions of the planets, was intended to be an engineer. He was employed in the excise, when he suddenly discovered that the science of the skies was his vocation. It is well known that astronomy owes to him the discovery of the planet Neptune, which was the result of a mathematical calculation. ”

“ Well, he begins by taking up some other career—that of watch-maker, for instance, or of writing-master, clergy-man, revenue officer, carpenter, bookseller, doctor, or perhaps shepherd, musician, or tradesman; and then, some day, if the thing is to be, some little incident determines it: the die is cast, and he becomes an astronomer. Nothing in particular is done; there are no parental lamentations or reproaches of friends who think you are a fool ”

“ OUR purpose is to inquire briefly, illustrating our research by a few eminent examples, how men become astronomers, or, in general, how those who achieve distinction in that profession are directed to it. ”

“ I do not think that his natural talent exceeded the mean which Nature has given to all. We feel, in reading Bessel, not the sense of a sudden induction—which is frequently given to the mathematician as well as to the astronomer—but rather that of a continuous labor, which draws new and exact conclusions from materials previously accumulated, and knows how to make a practical use of.—Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from Ciel et Terre. ”