The Hunt for Vulcan

…And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe

By: Thomas Levenson

Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau

Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The captivating, all-but-forgotten story of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and the search for a planet that never existed

For more than 50 years, the world's top scientists searched for the "missing" planet Vulcan, whose existence was mandated by Isaac Newton's theories of gravity. Countless hours were spent on the hunt for the elusive orb, and some of the era's most skilled astronomers even claimed to have found it.

There was just one problem: It was never there.

In The Hunt for Vulcan, Thomas Levenson follows the visionary scientists who inhabit the story of the phantom planet, starting with Isaac Newton, who, in 1687, provided an explanation for all matter in motion throughout the universe, leading to Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who, almost two centuries later, built on Newton's theories and discovered Neptune, becoming the most famous scientist in the world. Le Verrier attempted to surpass that triumph by predicting the existence of yet another planet in our solar system: Vulcan.

It took Albert Einstein to discern that the mystery of the missing planet was a problem not of measurements or math but of Newton's theory of gravity itself. Einstein's general theory of relativity proved that Vulcan did not and could not exist and that the search for it had merely been a quirk of operating under the wrong set of assumptions about the universe. Levenson tells the previously untold tale of how the "discovery" of Vulcan in the 19th century set the stage for Einstein's monumental breakthrough, the greatest individual intellectual achievement of the 20th century.

A dramatic human story of an epic quest, The Hunt for Vulcan offers insight into how science really advances (as opposed to the way we're taught about it in school) and how the best work of the greatest scientists reveals an artist's sensibility. Opening a new window onto our world, Levenson illuminates some of our most iconic ideas as he recounts one of the strangest episodes in the history of science.

©2015 Thomas Levenson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The forgotten story of Vulcan could no longer remain untold. Levenson tells us where it came from, how it vanished, and why its spirit lurks today. Along the way, we learn more than a bit of just how science works - when it succeeds as well as when it fails." (Neil deGrasse Tyson)

"This delightful and enlightening drama tells the story of the hunt for a planet that did not exist and how Einstein resolved the mystery with the most beautiful theory in the history of science. The Hunt for Vulcan is an inspiring tale about the quest for discovery and the challenges and joys of understanding our universe." (Walter Isaacson)

"The Hunt for Vulcan is equal to the best science writing I’ve read anywhere, by any author. Beautifully composed, rich in historical context, deeply researched, it is, above all, great storytelling. Levenson gives a true picture of the scientific enterprise, with all its good and bad guesses, wishful thinking, passion, human ego, and desire to know and understand this strange and magnificent cosmos we find ourselves in.” (Alan Lightman, author of The Accidental Universe)

A Great Listen

I like history and I like to read about old science, so this book is the perfect combination. It’s a wonderfully long and well-told story with a surprising mix of characters. Space science has changed so much and, like all science, continues to do so.

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY

Thomas Levenson offers a vignette of history on the methodology and adventure of scientific discovery. Scientific discoveries are rarely hit upon in a linear fashion. Discovery comes from study of natural phenomena that frequently reveal the unexpected. None can deny the brilliant and insightful discovery of the laws of motion and gravity by Isaac Newton. Among great science discoverers, none seem to achieve the utilitarian application of science more than Newton. At least for those who view earth as the primary laboratory of science.

Then comes Albert Einstein. Newton’s laws of gravity and motion work beautifully for practical application on earth. However, Newton’s laws of motion and gravity are error prone when applied to the universe. Einstein revolutionizes Newton’s laws of gravity and motion by discovering the relativity of time, mass, and energy. With theories of special and general relativity, the universe becomes the laboratory of science.

The methodology of science becomes refined by the mathematics of Newton’s laws of motion and gravitation and further defined by Einstein’s laws of relativity. It is Newton’s laws that lead to Le Verrier’s mathematical recognition of Neptune. But, it is also Newton’s laws that lead to Le Verrier’s mistake about the planet Vulcan. The misstep of finding a false planet is confirmed by Einstein’s discovery of a fault in Newton’s laws. Le Verrier’s statistical analysis leads to one observed and confirmed planet, and one falsely sighted planet. The point being–Newton’s limited theories of motion and gravity lead to science’s revision and a new avenue of discovery for natural phenomena.

One presumes there is a new Newton or a new Einstein in the world’s future because it is the nature of science to continually renew itself with a more comprehensive understanding of the universes we live in. There is no foreseeable end to science except in the extinction of humanity. One hopes human science and evolution keep pace with earth’s environmental change.

Platform 9 and 3/4ths not 9.5... b'derrr...

I guess this small detail slipped the editor's critique.. I wonder what else was missed.. otherwise, I enjoyed the historical detail of the different actors through time.

Wonderful, Story of the Planet that never was.

Great story about the false Planet Vulcan (Unless you count Star Trek) .. This story shows the tendency of people to wish something so much, they make it true even of it not.

Great listen even if you are not into science

All scientific history should be this interesting, but this book is a good listen even if you are not into science or history. I really enjoyed it and learned some things along the way - love the bit about Thomas Edison.

Bonus I got this as a Daily Deal

Better than Expected

Yes a nerdy book. Physics and history rolled together in a forgotten search for a planet. I am happy that I picked this book up and listened. Normally I enjoy a good scifi but this kept me listening as the uncovering of new physics is told from a sometimes overlooked perspective: solving a known problem. Hearing about the problem with the orbit of Mercury makes me wonder what other problems are there still to be solves!

Not Star Trek

If I’m being 100% honest, I bought this thinking it would be a book about Star Trek and Einstein. I thought, two of my favorite things!! How can I go wrong?!… Ha! I am laughing at myself right now, because I didn’t really read the back cover, and I didn’t realize I would be so wrong. But, at least I can say I wasn’t disappointed.

THE HUNT FOR VULCAN was stimulating, well written, and filled with more information about the discovery of our solar system than I’d anticipated. It wasn’t dry, instead told with a knowing voice that sustained through the whole book. Not what I was expecting in the least, but it wasn’t half bad. A quick read, only a couple hundred pages. What I knew about our solar system has grown two fold.

Now… the next book I’ve started, is back to a good bit of fiction. Oh, how I’m hardly able to stop reading long enough to write this! Bring on THE UNITED STATES OF JAPAN!

Interesting and approachable

For a book about science history, this is pretty approachable and easy to follow. I can never truly wrap my head around quantum theory, but at the appropriate point the book makes an effort to make it comprehensible. Mostly, this book tells the story of the planet that never was in terms of the scientific method and the colorful characters along the way. The ultimate lesson: be willing to change your beliefs to suit the facts.

Bringing together giant of thought

I loved the I depth descriptions of the Giants in science they did. I learned the basics many years ago and now see how truly basic my learning was. I liked the shortness of the volume. It was very heavy material and I had so little time. Can't wait to chat with someone.

A quick dip into how we map the unknown.

I enjoyed the topic of the hunt for vulcan immensely, but I felt that it was really only a basic treatment of a much larger history. I was pleasantly surprised to learn how many astronomers were looking to the night sky searching for patterns in the stars, and in the collected data. I found the bits about the French observatories to be especially well done in setting the stage. I found the explanation of Einstein's relativity to be easy to follow and connect back to the missing planet.