THE pioneering work of a Scottish Presbyterian minister and astronomer who predicted space flight in the mid-19th century has been uncovered by a researcher in Canada.

William Leitch, who was born in Rothesay, wrote a book in 1862 in which he correctly explained how rockets could be a viable engine for powering space flight and would work effectively in the vacuum of space.

His proposal pre-dates by 30 years the discoveries of the recognised visionaries of space flight who worked in Russia, Germany and the US.

A science graduate of Glasgow University, Mr Leitch’s religious convictions also led him to preaching positions in the Church of Scotland at Dunoon, Arbroath and Cupar.

This combination of science and theology resulted in the publication of his key book, God’s Glory in the Heavens, in 1862.

The book’s religious title has seen it languish un-noticed on the theology shelves of libraries, whereas its vivid content expounds the wonders of scientific astronomy, the solar system and the possibilities of space travel by rockets.

English-Canadian space historian Robert Godwin, founder of the online Space Library, tracked down Mr Leitch’s significance by examining his neglected book and his academic activities in Ontario, where he died in 1864.

Mr Godwin said: “Leitch deserves a place of honour in the history of space flight. The fact that he was a scientist is the key to this story. He wasn’t just making a wild guess.

"Not only did he understand Newton’s laws, he almost dismissively understood that a rocket would work more efficiently in the vacuum of space - a fact that still caused space scientists to be ridiculed 60 years later.”

Mr Leitch was born in 1814 on the Isle of Bute and was educated in Rothesay and Greenock. He went on to graduate with honours in mathematics and science from Glasgow University, where he worked in the observatory at Dowanhill. Later he attained Doctor of Divinity.

Until now, the accolade for the first proper explanation of space flight went to Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovksy who published in 1903.

In the US, Robert Goddard patented rockets and wrote his own influential paper in 1919. Mr Goddard’s ideas were taken up by the engineer Herman Oberth, whose 1929 book on rocket travel led to him to work on the V2 missile for Nazi Germany.

Mr Goddard and Mr Oberth had both been excited by early works of H G Wells and Jules Verne, whose novel From The Earth to the Moon caused great excitement when serialised in 1865. But Leitch’s book of 1862 pre-dates them all.

Mr Godwin’s conclusions have been endorsed by other experts including the British Interplanetary Society, a former curator of rocketry at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and a historian of the American Astronautical Society in Houston, Texas.