Joseph Giraudo ran his salting business in Gennevilliers before retiring in 1960 and settling in Bois Colombes. A lover of popular science books, at the age of 58, he discovered an astronomy book that turned his life upside down. He realized that the scientific calculation of the light year is approximate. Outraged that we are being robbed of time, Joseph Giraudo wanted to repair this fault by creating a calculation system that would be “perfectly accurate”. For 29 years, he would fill miles of rolls of paper, dozens of old accounting books and type hundreds of notes on a typewriter. In 1989, after having created several versions, he had his theory — “The New Mileage of the Light Year” — published in the newsletter of his astronomy club. Then began another quest: the recognition of the scientific community. He wrote to Hubert Reeves, to the Astronomical Society of France and even to Larousse. Only Jean-Claude Pecker from the Institute of Astrophysics of the College de France answered him; he would have a long correspondence with him. Nothing helped; the scientific verdict remains the same: while his calculations are correct, their basis is invalid. Science is intractable, we cannot calculate precisely with the variables of stars that are not permanent by nature. Yet Joseph Giraudo did not budge, convinced that he was right. This deep conviction came to him from a dream: one night in 1974, his mother appeared to him to tell him that his calculations were right and that he had to persevere. Joseph Giraudo left to explore the stars in 1991, without having received the recognition of his peers.