The Discovery of Ceres: A “Scientific Comedy”

The first asteroid—now classed as a dwarf planet—was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in Palermo in 1801. From the beginning, its discovery created misunderstandings, misinterpretations, doubts and suspicions. Here, the entire story has been reworded and represented as a “comedy” with a succession of dramatic events, coups de théatre and a happy ending, in the full respect of its historicity. This is a fun example of how scientists, like all people, are no more than actors of the great “human comedy”.