George Biddell Airy, F. R. S. (1801--1892): A centenary commemoration (Q2740924)

This paper provides a brief biographical portrait of George Biddell Airy, famous as Astronomer Royal (1835-1881), much criticized for his failure to search for the planet Neptune. The work is informed by some study of Airy's personal papers. Nothing at all is said, however, about Airy's contributions to mathematics, physics and astronomy, which were considerable (though not in the class of the work of his great contemporaries). Airy has been unfairly relegated to the scientific sidelines; yet as the author's portrait makes clear, the peculiarities of his professional and administrative career provide ample fodder for the student of Victorian scientific life.