"We are now on the eve of the second transit of a pair, after which there will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the earth and the June flowers are blooming in 2004. When the last transit season occurred the intellectual world was awakening from the slumber of ages, and the wondrous scientific activity which has led to our present advanced knowledge was just beginning. What will be the state of science when the next transit season arrives God only knows. Not even our children's children will live to take part in the astronomy of that day. As for ourselves, we have to do with the present . . . ".

- William Harkness, 1882