Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb | |
---|---|
BS , 1858) | |
Spouse |
Mary Caroline Hassler
(m. 1863) |
Children | 4, incl. Anita Newcomb McGee and Anna Josepha also William Bartlett Newcomb and Emily Kate Newcomb |
Awards | Copley Medal (1890) Bruce Medal (1898) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy Mathematics |
Academic advisors | Benjamin Peirce |
Doctoral students | Henry Ludwell Moore |
Signature | |
Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a
Though Newcomb had little conventional schooling, he completed a B.S. at Harvard in 1858. He later made important contributions to
Biography
Early life
Simon Newcomb was born in the town of
Newcomb seems to have had little conventional schooling and was taught by his father. He also had a short
Newcomb taught for two years in Maryland, from 1854 to 1856; for the first year in a country school in Massey's Cross Roads, Kent County, then for a year nearby in Sudlersville in Queen Anne's County. Both were located in the largely rural area of the Eastern Shore. In his spare time Newcomb studied a variety of subjects, such as political economy and religion, but his deepest studies were made in mathematics and astronomy.
In particular he read
Newcomb independently studied mathematics and physics. For a time he supported himself by teaching before becoming a
Peirce family
Newcomb studied mathematics under
Career in astronomy
In the prelude to the
By the time Newcomb visited Paris, France, in 1870, he was aware that the table of lunar positions calculated by Peter Andreas Hansen was in error. While in Paris, he realized that, in addition to the data from 1750 to 1838 that Hansen had used, there was earlier data documented as far back as 1672. But he had little time for analysis as he witnessed the defeat of French emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War and the coup that ended the Second French Empire. Newcomb managed to escape from the city during the ensuing rioting; it led to the formation of the Paris Commune and engulfed even the Paris Observatory. Newcomb used the "new" data to revise Hansen's tables.[3]
In 1875 he 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.[3]
Director of the Nautical Almanac Office
In 1877 he became director of the Nautical Almanac Office where, ably assisted by George William Hill, he embarked on a program of recalculation of all the major astronomical constants. From 1884 he also fulfilled a demanding role as professor of mathematics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, continuing, however, to reside at Washington.[9]
With
Personal life
During the American Civil War, Newcomb married Mary Caroline Hassler on August 4, 1863. The couple had three daughters, and a son who died in infancy.[10] Mary Caroline Hassler's parents were US Navy Surgeon Dr. Charles Augustus Hassler and his wife. Her paternal grandfather was Ferdinand Hassler, the first Superintendent of the Coast Survey.[11]
Newcomb died in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 1909, of bladder cancer. He was buried with military honors in Arlington National Cemetery with President William Howard Taft in attendance.[3]
Newcomb's daughter
Newcomb's daughter Anna Josepha studied at the Art Students' League in New York.[13] She was active in the suffrage movement. In 1912, she organized the first Cornwall meeting in support of voting rights for women.[13] Josepha Newcomb married Edward Baldwin Whitney, who was the son of Professor William Dwight Whitney and his wife, and the grandson of US Senator and Connecticut Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin. He served as Assistant US Attorney General. Their grandson Hassler Whitney became a mathematician and professor.[14]
Work
Speed of light
In 1878, Newcomb had started planning for a new and precise measurement of the
Benford's law
In 1881, Newcomb discovered the statistical principle now known as Benford's law. He observed that the earlier pages of logarithm books, used at that time to carry out logarithmic calculations, were far more worn than the later pages. This led him to formulate the principle that, in any list of numbers taken from an arbitrary set of data, more numbers will tend to begin with "1" than with any other digit.[15]
Chandler wobble
In 1891, 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 the wobble. The theory was based on a perfectly rigid body, but Earth is slightly elastic. Newcomb used the variation of latitude observations to estimate the elasticity of Earth, finding it to be slightly more rigid than steel.[16]
Other work
Newcomb was an
On the state of astronomy
In 1888 Simon Newcomb wrote: "We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy." In 1900, his Elements of Astronomy was published by the American Book Company.
By 1903, however, his view had changed. In an article in Science, he wrote:
"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."[19]
On the impossibility of a flying machine
Newcomb is famously quoted as having believed it impossible to build a "flying machine." He begins an article titled "Is the Airship Possible?" with the remark, "That depends, first of all, on whether we are to make the requisite scientific discoveries." He ends with the remark "the construction of an aerial vehicle ... which could carry even a single man from place-to-place at pleasure requires the discovery of some new metal or some new force."[20]
In the October 22, 1903, issue of The Independent, Newcomb made the well-known remark that "May not our mechanicians ... be ultimately forced to admit that aerial flight is one of the great class of problems with which man can never cope, and give up all attempts to grapple with it?",[21][22] He suggested that even if a man flew, he could not stop. "Once he slackens his speed, down he begins to fall. Once he stops, he falls as a dead mass." Newcomb had no concept of an airfoil. His "aeroplane" was an inclined "thin flat board". He therefore concluded that it could never carry the weight of a man.
Newcomb was particularly critical of the work of
"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."[24]
Newcomb was not aware of the
Newcomb favored the development of rotating wing (helicopters) and airships that would float in the air (blimps). Within a few decades, zeppelins regularly transported passengers between Europe and the United States, and the Graf Zeppelin circumnavigated the Earth.[26]
Psychical research
Newcomb was the first president of the American Society for Psychical Research.[27] Although skeptical of extrasensory perception and alleged paranormal phenomena, he believed the subject was worthy of investigation. By 1889 his investigations were negative and his skepticism increased. Biographer Albert E. Moyer has noted that Newcomb "convinced and hoped to convince others that, on methodological grounds, psychical research was a scientific dead end."[28]
Awards and honours
- Member, and holder of several offices, of the National Academy of Sciences(1869);
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1874);
- Elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1875);
- Fellow of the Royal Society (1877);
- Huygens Medal of the Haarlem Academy of Sciences (1878);
- Elected a member of the American Philosophical Society (1878);[29]
- President of the Philosophical Society of Washington (1878–1880)[30]
- Editor of the American Journal of Mathematics (1885–1900);
- Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1890);
- Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur(1893);
- President of the American Mathematical Society (1897–1898);
- Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1898);
- Founding member and first president of the American Astronomical Society (1899–1905).
- Foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1898);[31]
- Inductee of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.
- Made a rear-admiral by Act of Congress in 1906.[9]
Legacy
- Asteroid 855 Newcombia is named after him.
- The crater Newcomb crater on Mars.[32]
- The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has a writing award named after him.
- The Time Service Building at the US Naval Observatory is named The Simon Newcomb Laboratory.
- The U.S. Navy minesweeper Simon Newcomb (YMS 263) was launched in 1942, served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and was decommissioned in 1949.
- Mt. Newcomb (13,418 ft; 4,090 m) appears on USGS topographic maps at coordinates 36.5399° N, 118.2934° W in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Bibliography
- Newcomb, S (1878) Research on the Motion of the Moon, Part I
- Newcomb, S (1878) Popular Astronomy
- Newcomb, S (1879) Astronomy for schools and colleges
- Newcomb, S (1881). "Note on the frequency of use of the different digits in natural numbers". American Journal of Mathematics. 4 (1): 39–40. JSTOR 2369148.
- Newcomb, S (1885) Principles of Political Economy (Internet Archive)
- Newcomb, S (1887) The ABC Of Finance
- Newcomb, S (1890) Elements of Astronomy
- Newcomb, S (1900) His Wisdom the Defender—Science Fiction novel.
- Newcomb, S (1901) The Stars
- Newcomb, S (1902) Astronomy for Everybody
- Newcomb, S (1903) The Reminiscences of an Astronomer—His autobiography. (Reissued by ISBN 978-1-108-01391-8)
- Newcomb, S (1903) The Outlook for the Flying Machine" Archived August 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, October 22, 1903, pp 2508–12
- Newcomb, S (1906) Compendium of Spherical Astronomy
- Newcomb, S (1907) Investigation of Inequalities in the Motion of the Moon Produced by the Action of the Planets
- Newcomb, S (1912) Research on the Motion of the Moon, Part II
A number of astronomical, physical, and mathematical papers written between 1882 and 1912 are mentioned in "Astronomical Papers Prepared For The Use Of The American Ephemeris And Nautical Almanac". U.S. Naval Observatory. The Nautical Almanac Office. August 12, 2008. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
See also
References
- ^ "People: William Henry Steeves (May 20, 1814 - December 9, 1873)". Library and Archives Canada. 2005. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ Marsden (1981)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Newcomb biography. dcs.st-and.ac.uk
- ^ Brent (1993) p. 288
- ^ Brent (1993) p. 128
- ^ Brent (1993) pp. 150–153
- ^ Brent (1993) pp. 287–289
- ^ "Discovering the American Aristotle | Edward T. Oakes". December 1993.
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 474.
- ^ Carter & Carter (2006) p. 191
- ^ Campbell, W. W. (1924). "Simon Newcomb". Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, p. 18
- ^ "National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM): American Angels of Mercy: Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee's Pictorial Record of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904: Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, 1864–1940". www.medicalmuseum.mil. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- ^ a b "Josepha Newcomb Whitney". cornwallhistoricalsociety.org. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- JSTOR 986754.
- ^ Newcomb (1881)
- ^ Newcomb (1902) p. 116
- ^ Fisher (1909).
- ^ M. G. J. Minnaert: De natuurkunde van 't vrije veld, Deel 2: Geluid, warmte, elektriciteit. § 248: Het ionosfeerlicht
- .
- ^ Newcomb, Simon (September 1901). "Is the Airship Coming?". McClure's Magazine. 17 (5). S. S. McClure, Limited: 432–435.
- ISBN 978-1-59629-099-0. Retrieved July 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Outlook for the Flying Machine". The Independent. 55 (2864): 2509. October 22, 1903. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-520-07689-1.
- ^ "What Did Newcomb Say?". The Independent. 103 (3738). New York: Independent Corporation: 374. September 25, 1920.
- ^ Anita Newcomb McGee (April 20, 1919). "Simon Newcomb on Flying. He did not take the gasoline engine into account in his writings". New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
- ^ "Los Angeles to Lakehurst". Time. September 9, 1929.
- ^ Campbell, W. W. (1924). "Simon Newcomb". Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. p. 14
- ^ Moyer, Albert E. (1998). "Simon Newcomb: Astronomer with an Attitude". Scientific American 279 (4): 88–93.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ "Past Presidents". PSW Science. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ "Simon Newcomb (1835–1909)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
- ^ Tenn, Joe S. (November 11, 2015), "Simon Newcomb", The Bruce Medalists, archived from the original on February 10, 2021, retrieved November 18, 2017.
Further reading
- Brent, J. (1993). Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-31267-1.
- Carter, W. & ISBN 1-59113-803-5.
- Clemence, G. M. (2001) "Newcomb, Simon", Encyclopædia Britannica, Deluxe CDROM edition
- Fisher, Irving (1909). "Obituary. Simon Newcomb" Economic Journal, 19, pp. 641–44.
- The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, 651–52.
- Marsden, B. (1981) "Newcomb, Simon" in Gillespie, C.C., ed. (1981). Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 10. New York: Charles Screibner's Sons. pp. 33–36. ISBN 0-684-16970-3.
- Simon Newcomb Biography
- Ebeling, Richard M., "Simon Newcomb and the Let-Alone Principle," American Institute for Economic Research, July 18, 2019
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Obituary from The Times
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Simon Newcomb", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- 1898 Bruce Medalist
- Works by Simon Newcomb at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Simon Newcomb at Internet Archive
- Works by Simon Newcomb at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Simon Newcomb, links to Newcomb's economic writings at Archive for the History of Economic Thought
- Historic Site & Memorial at Wallace Bridge, Nova Scotia (1935)
- Simon Newcomb — Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences