Overview

William Herschel (1738-1822) discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. It was the first planet discovered since the beginning of recorded history. The discovery of Uranus brought Herschel much fame, which enabled him to carry out his unconventional astronomical research. His discovery of Uranus, to a small degree, even consoled England for its loss of the 13 colonies in the American Revolutionary War. Perhaps most importantly, the discovery of Uranus opened up a new phase in the discovery of the planets of our solar system.

Background

The discovery of the planets in our solar system can be said to have two distinct phases. The discovery of the planet Uranus marks the boundary between these two phases. The first phase began before recorded history. In this phase the only known planets were the five that...