"This book is in essence a pre-history of the discovery of exoplanets. The story centers on respected astronomer Peter van de Kamp's fall from grace after he refused to accept legitimate challenges to his claimed first discovery of exoplanets. The book sheds a light on something that's become kind of a footnote or joke in astronomy history and gives it more substance and finesse than it's been afforded. It also covers all the relevant research efforts (including van de Kamp's) to find exoplanets until the actual first observations in the 1990s"-- Provided by publisher.