Served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and was decommissioned in 1949
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Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb was a Canadian–American astronomer, applied mathematician, and autodidactic polymath. He served as Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy and at Johns Hopkins University. Born in Nova Scotia, at the age of 19 Newcomb left an apprenticeship to join his father in Massachusetts, where the latter was teaching.
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science · Canadian-American polymath (1835–1909) · astronomer · mathematician · economist · novelist · university teacher · science fiction writer · writer · also Simon Newcomb, Newcomb
Born 12 March 1835 · Died 11 July 1909 · Q164401
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1942· 1 entry
1912· 1 entry
Organized the first Cornwall meeting in support of voting rights for women
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1909· 2 entries
Died 1909-07-11.
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Newcomb died in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 1909, of bladder cancer.
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1903· 3 entries
However, Newcomb was also saying,
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“What lies before us is an illimitable field, the existence of which was scarcely suspected ten years ago, the exploration of which may well absorb the activities of our physical laboratories, and of the great mass of our astronomical observers and investigators for as many generations as were required to bring electrical science to its present state.”
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“Quite likely the 20th century is destined to see the natural forces which will enable us to fly from continent to continent with a speed far exceeding that of a bird. But when we inquire whether aerial flight is possible in the present state of our knowledge; whether, with such materials as we possess, a combination of steel, cloth and wire can be made which, moved by the power of electricity or steam, shall form a successful flying machine, the outlook may be altogether different.”
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1901· 1 entry
“We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy.”
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1900· 1 entry
His Elements of Astronomy was published by the American Book Company
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1899· 1 entry
Career landmark: chairperson (1899–1905).
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1898· 1 entry
Won Bruce Medal (1898).
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1897· 1 entry
Career landmark: President of the American Mathematical Society (1897–1898).
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1893· 1 entry
Awarded Knight of the Legion of Honour (1893).
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1891· 1 entry
Within months of Seth Carlo Chandler's discovery of the 14-month variation of latitude, now referred to as the Chandler wobble, Newcomb explained the apparent conflict between the observed motion and predicted period of
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1890· 1 entry
Won Copley Medal (1890).
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1888· 1 entry
Simon Newcomb wrote: "We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy
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1883· 1 entry
Michelson revised his measurement to a value closer to Newcomb's
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1881· 1 entry
Newcomb discovered the statistical principle now known as Benford's law
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1880· 2 entries
Michelson assisted at Newcomb's initial measurement with instruments located at Fort Myer and the United States Naval Observatory, then situated near the Potomac River
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Newcomb's measurement was substantially different
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1878· 2 entries
Won Huygens medal (1878).
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Newcomb had started planning for a new and precise measurement of the speed of light
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1877· 2 entries
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1877).
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Newcomb became director of the Nautical Almanac Office
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1875· 1 entry
Was offered the post of director of the Harvard College Observatory but he declined, having by now settled that his interests lay in mathematics rather than observation
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1874· 1 entry
Won Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1874).
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1870· 1 entry
Was aware that the table of lunar positions calculated by Peter Andreas Hansen was in error
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1861· 1 entry
Newcomb took advantage of a vacancy and was hired as professor of mathematics and astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory, in Washington D
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1858· 1 entry
Studied at Harvard University, licentiate (1857–1858).
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1856· 1 entry
Newcomb took a position as a private tutor close to Washington, DC
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1835· 1 entry
Born 1835-03-12.
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