Abstract

MOLINA BETANCUR, Sebastián. The method of analysis and synthesis and the discovery of Neptune. Estud.filos [online]. 2017, n.55, pp.30-53. ISSN 0121-3628.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.n55a03.

The discovery of Neptune was one of the greatest achievements of nineteenth-century astronomy. Using nothing but calculus and some observations of the Uranus’ anomalous motion, Adams and Le Verrier got to determine, independently, the possible place and mass of a hypothetical planet, which would produce its observational discovery. In this paper I will demonstrate that the methods used by these astronomers were influenced by Newton’s method of analysis and synthesis. Considering this, I will also expose, that some astronomy’s general epistemological principles could be deduced when we consider these investigation methods.

Keywords : analysis; synthesis; discovery; demonstration; observation; hypothesis.

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