THE world went Venus-crazy on 8 June, when the second rock from the sun could briefly be seen passing across the solar surface.
Visible from most of Europe, Africa and Asia, the 6-hour transit was tipped as a not-to-be-missed astronomical event, as only two occur roughly every century. Scientifically, it told us little that we didn’t already know, but it did provide a salutary reminder of the titanic efforts that were needed a few centuries ago to establish what we now take for granted.
By measuring the position of the transiting Venus from different places on Earth, scientists could work…
