Other sources would have you believe that helium was jointly discovered by Janssen and Norman Lockyer, a British scientist, and that their discovery letters reached Paris the same day, one sent from India, and the other from England.
Biman Nath
The Story of Helium and the Birth of Astrophysics
Helium was the first element ever discovered by astronomers. Its presence was first indicated in the Sun and not on Earth. Further, its discovery marked the birth of the new science of astrophysics.
However, it turns out that the events leading to the discovery of helium have been rather misrepresented in books, journals, and even encyclopedias. The usual story about its joint discovery during a solar eclipse in 1868 by French astronomer Pierre Janssen and late in England by Norman Lockyer, is far from the truth. Janssen never mentioned any new spectral line in his reports.
The actual story turns out to be as dramatic as in fiction. This book tells the story without jargon, using the words of the scientists themselves (from their letters and reports), and rescues the real story from the backwaters of history.
From the reviews:
"This book is a labor of love and a rather personal document, shedding light on a portion of physics and chemistry history that previously seems to have received too little careful analysis. ? Astronomer Nath ? has done some key detective work in mid-19th-century physics, starting with helium and expanding into the transformational perspective created by spectroscopy. ? a fine book that makes good reading and fills a gap in the literature. It belongs in all college libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels." (K. L. Schick, Choice, Vol. 50 (11), July, 2013)
"Biman Nath clearly loves helium, and you very probably will too after reading this book. ? I think typical ageing astronomers will enjoy the book ? ." (Virginia Trimble, The Observatory, Vol. 133 (1233), April, 2013)
