[1] His early promise in mathematics brought him to the attention of Johann Georg Büsch, who allowed Bode to use his own library for study.

This was followed by an elementary treatise on astronomy entitled Anleitung zur Kenntniss des gestirnten Himmels (1768, 10th ed.

1844), the success of which led to his being invited to Berlin by Johann Heinrich Lambert[2] in 1772 for the purpose of computing ephemerides on an improved plan.

[3] There he published the Uranographia in 1801, a celestial atlas that aimed both at scientific accuracy in showing the positions of stars and other astronomical objects, as well as the artistic interpretation of the stellar constellation figures.

Bode also published another small star atlas, intended for astronomical amateurs (Vorstellung der Gestirne).

However before the group initiated a search, they were trumped by the discovery of the asteroid Ceres by Giuseppe Piazzi from Palermo in 1801, at Bode's predicted position.

The discoverer William Herschel proposed to name it after George III which was not accepted so readily in other countries.

[4] [5] There were further alternatives proposed, but ultimately Bode's suggestion became the most widely used – however it had to wait until 1850 before gaining official acceptance in Britain when the Nautical Almanac Office switched from using the name Georgium Sidus to Uranus.