Laurent Hodges might have added a note about John Michell. The Rev. Michell, a
Fellow of Queens' College Cambridge, is the man who first conceived of black
holes in print, in 1784:
If the semi-diameter of a sphere of the same density as the Sun in the
proportion of five hundred to one, and by supposing light to be attracted
by the same force in proportion to its [mass] with other bodies, all light
emitted from such a body would be made to return towards it, by its own
proper gravity.
(I mention his affiliation because some people take it very seriously. I once
gave a talk at Cambridge in which I cited this passage with only Michell's
name
and the date appended to it on the transparency. Anthony Lasenby, a
contemporary
Fellow of Queens', visibly shifted forward in his chair when I put the
transparency up. I noticed and I seamlessly added the affiliation as I spoke.
Anthony settled back in his chair and looked quite content.