Simon Newcomb Quotes

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Simon Newcomb

Profession : Mathematician

Birth : March 12, 1835

Though born in Nova Scotia, I am of almost pure New England descent.

Simon Newcomb

Until I was four years old I lived in the house of my paternal grandfather, about two miles from the pretty little village of Wallace, at the mouth of the river of that name.

Simon Newcomb

When about fifteen I once made a great scandal by taking out my knife in prayer meeting and assaulting a young man who, while I was kneeling down during the prayer, stood above me and squeezed my neck.

Simon Newcomb

In October, 1865, occurred what was, in my eyes, the greatest event in the history of the observatory. The new transit circle arrived from Berlin in its boxes.

Simon Newcomb

One hardly knows where, in the history of science, to look for an important movement that had its effective start in so pure and simple an accident as that which led to the building of the great Washington telescope, and went on to the discovery of the satellites of Mars.

Simon Newcomb

The reports of the eclipse parties not only described the scientific observations in great detail, but also the travels and experiences, and were sometimes marked by a piquancy not common in official documents.

Simon Newcomb

The result was that, if it happened to clear off after a cloudy evening, I frequently arose from my bed at any hour of the night or morning and walked two miles to the observatory to make some observation included in the programme.

Simon Newcomb

Whenever a total eclipse of the sun was visible in an accessible region parties were sent out to observe it.

Simon Newcomb