Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-07-26
cLIMPsEs OF MEWCoMB.
Noted Computer Who Was One of tho
Worlds Foremost Astronomers.

Noted Computer Who Was One of tho
Worlds Foremost Astronomers.
Professor Simon Newcomb one Of
the foremost astronomers of the world,
who recently died at Washington. was
the son of John b. Newcomb, the vii
lage schoolmaster of Wallace, Nova
Scotia. He was born there In COM
parative poverty on March T.. 1850.
He lived to become one of the eight
foreign associates of the Institute of
France, the first native American since
Franklin to he so honored: to win the
highest degrees from practically every
American college and tributes of
honor from most of the great foreign
scientific associations.
He also lived to finish the work that
, he considered his best. When short
, time ago he finished his work on the
moon he had left but one great desire
unfulfilled-to have the naval observa-
| tory made the national observatory.
! lessor Newcomb heard that there was
| not much of living left for him.
"Then take me to Washington said
he Il have work to do while there is
| time"
He was taken there on a mattress in
! agony. aud for three weeks he lay die
| tating steadily to stenographers on a
| subject which required the utmost con-
| centration.
| He was man OF humor. sympathy
and anecdote. with few or no enemies
4 - f,;1 III
youth he has himself told as follows:
| My father was the most rational and
| most dspassionate of men. My mother
| was the most profoundly and sincerely
religious woman with whom l was ever
| intimately acquainted.
l began TO study arithmetic when l
| was five years old and when six. | am
| told. l was very fond of doing sums. At
| twelve | was studying algebra. and about
| that time ! began to teach. ! remember
| that | was thirteen when l first took up
| Euclid. There was a copy of II among
| my fathers works. think il was the
one that belonged to my grandfather u
stonecutter. but of unusual learning.
1t is evident from his autobiography
that Professor Newcomb got most of
his education by his own efforts.
though his father taught him the rudi-
mentS. Yet he WIS by no means Il
cold or unnatural boy. He gave this
! incident to show that he had n temper;
When about fifteen l once made a scan
| dal by taking out my knife in prayer
| meeting and assaulting a young man who
| while | was kneeing down during prayer
| stood above me and squeezed my neck.
! He escaped with couple of severe
4 though not serious cuts In his hand. lie
| announced his intention of thrashinG me
1 W fnr
| eral days thereafter l tried to- keep a
| pitchfork within reach determined il he
| tried the job and / failed to kill him. il
would be because | was unable TO do
At the age of sixteen Professor New
comb was lost to exact science for he
went to study under one DR.. Forshay
in NIoncton. \. S. Fortunately he
found things decidedly not to his taste
His life at that time he describes in
this his couplet:
| Physician, apothecary, chemist and drug.
gist.
Girl about house and boy in the barn
Two years later. planning to- make
his way to the United States, he left
DIR. Forshay and set out on foot He
taught the three RS on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland for year or sc
and then got his appointment to the
Nautical Almanac. He got it through
Professor Joseph Henry of the Smith
sonian institution, to whom he hat
sent an algebraic problem.
Professor Newcomb's position on the
Almanac was that of computer He
was graduated from Harvard with the
degree of B. S. In 1858. but even be
fore that had made independent re
searches and had become notable while
still computer there through his paper
"On the Secular Variations and Mu
tual Relations Of the Orbits of tn,
Asteroids" From that time on hi
made the pursuit of exact astronom!
his special field.