A principios de 1782, el físico y filósofo alemán Christof Lichtenberg escribió en su diario: “To invent an infallible remedy against toothache, which would take it away in a moment, might be as valuable and more than to discover a new planet... but I do not know how to start the diary of this year with a more important topic than the news of the new planet”, refiriéndose al descubrimiento del planeta Urano en 1781.