Orson Pratt (1811-1881) was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; at 24, he was the youngest member of the original Quorum of the Twelve. Had he not been briefly dropped from the Twelve in the winter of 1842/1843, he would have succeeded Brigham Young as President of the Church. Pratt was a genuine polymath, with major writings on theology, astronomy, and mathematics. He supervised the work of transcribing the Book of Mormon...