Simon Newcomb

Simon Newcomb
Newcomb c. 1905
Born(1835-03-12)March 12, 1835
DiedJuly 11, 1909(1909-07-11) (aged 74)
NationalityCanadian
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materHarvard University (BS, 1858)
Spouse
Mary Caroline Hassler
(m. 1863)
Children4, incl. Anita Newcomb McGee and
Anna Josepha also William Bartlett Newcomb and Emily Kate Newcomb
AwardsCopley Medal (1890)
Bruce Medal (1898)
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
Mathematics
Academic advisorsBenjamin Peirce
Doctoral studentsHenry Ludwell Moore
Signature

Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a CanadianAmerican 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.

Though Newcomb had little conventional schooling, he completed a B.S. at Harvard in 1858. He later made important contributions to timekeeping, as well as to other fields in applied mathematics, such as economics and statistics. Fluent in several languages, he also wrote and published several popular science books and a science fiction novel.