The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Reminiscences of an Astronomer, by Simon
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Title: The Reminiscences of an Astronomer

Author: Simon Newcomb

Release Date: September 17, 2006 [eBook #19309]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REMINISCENCES OF AN
ASTRONOMER***

E-text prepared by Ferdinand van Aartsen

THE REMINISCENCES OF AN ASTRONOMER

by

SIMON NEWCOMB

1903

PREFACE

The earlier chapters of this collection are so much in the nature
of an autobiography that the author has long shrunk from the idea of
allowing them to see the light during his lifetime. His repugnance
has been overcome by very warm expressions on the subject uttered
by valued friends to whom they were shown, and by a desire that
some at least who knew him in youth should be able to read what he
has written.

The author trusts that neither critic nor reader will object
because he has, in some cases, strayed outside the limits of his
purely personal experience, in order to give a more complete view
of a situation, or to bring out matters that might be of historic
interest. If some of the chapters are scrappy, it is because he
has tried to collect those experiences which have afforded him most
food for thought, have been most influential in shaping his views,
or are recalled with most pleasure.

CONTENTS

I
THE WORLD OF COLD AND DARKNESS
Ancestry.--Squire Thomas Prince.--Parentage.--Early Education.--
Books read.

II
DR. FOSHAY
A Long Journey on Foot.--A Wonderful Doctor.--The Botanic System of
Medicine.--Phrenology.--A Launch into the World.--A Disillusion.--
Life in Maryland.--Acquaintance with Professor Henry.--Removal
to Cambridge.

III
THE WORLD OF SWEETNESS AND LIGHT
The American Astronomical Ephemeris.--The Men who made it.--
Harvard in the Middle of the Century.--A Librarian of the Time.--
Professor Peirce.--Dr. Gould, the "Astronomical Journal," and the
Dudley Observatory.--W. P. G. Bartlett.--John D. Runkle and the
"Mathematical Monthly."--A Mathematical Politician.--A Trip to
Manitoba and a Voyage up the Saskatchew