Description

Simon Newcomb (1835-1909) was a Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician. Though he had little conventional schooling, he made important contributions to timekeeping as well as writing on economics, statistics and authoring a science fiction novel. He studied mathematics and physics privately and supported himself with some school-teaching before becoming a human computer (a functionary in charge of calculations) at the Nautical Almanac Office in Massachusetts in 1857. At around the same time, he enrolled at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, graduating in 1858. In 1861, Newcomb became professor of mathematics and astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory. He set to work on the measurement of the position of the planets as an aid to navigation, becoming increasingly interested in theories of planetary motion. In 1877, he became director of the Nautical Almanac Office, where he embarked on a program of recalculation of all the major astronomical constants. In 1881, Newcomb discovered the statistical principle now known as Benford's law. His works include: The ABC of Finance (1877) and The Reminiscences of an Astronomer (1903).