The comet made its predicted nearest approach to the Sun on March 13, 1759, just one month earlier than Clairaut had computed.
The comet arrived at its perihelion on the thirteenth of March, only twenty-three days from the time assigned by Clairaut.
Truly, it will not equal that of Newton, who had received the spark divine; nor even that of his collaborator Clairaut.
Hence it is plain that Clairaut's theorem furnishes a practical method for determining the value of the earth's ellipticity.
She mastered Clairaut's geometry by copying the book, plates, and all, from beginning to end.
