J. P. Nichol (1804–59), astronomer and political economist, was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. He brought astronomy to a non-scientific audience through his enthusiastic public lectures and astronomy books. His works include the popular Views of the Architecture of the Heavens (1837; also reissued in this series) in which he supported the nebular hypothesis, which in modified form is the model of star formation most widely accepted today. Neptune was (in 1846) the first planet to be discovered by mathematical prediction rather than empirical observation, and in this book, first published in 1855, Nichol describes that discovery to a lay readership. Part 1 is an exposition of the then current view of the solar system and the research and discoveries which led to that view; Part 2 is dedicated to Neptune; while the third part explains the controversies over the planet's discovery.
