Nathaniel Bowditch - Life and work, Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, Legacy

Astronomer and mathematician, born in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. Self-taught after age 10, he worked in a ship's chandlery, and by 15 had compiled an astronomical almanac. He went to sea (1795–1803), serving as master on his last voyage. He began by correcting errors in the writings of others, especially John Hamilton Moore's Practical Navigator; his contributions were so extensive that by 1802 the book became the New American Practical Navigator and was credited to him; it has remained to this day the ‘seaman's bible’. He chose to pursue research on his own, while working as an insurance actuary. His publications include a translation of four volumes of Laplace's Mécanique céleste, which appeared with his commentary and updating as Celestial Mechanics (1829–39).

Nathaniel Bowditch (March 26, 1773 – March 16, 1838) was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation.

Life and work

Bowditch, the fourth of seven children, was born in Salem, Massachusetts. At the age of ten, he was made to leave school to work in his father's cooperage, before becoming indentured at twelve for nine years as a bookkeeping apprentice to a ship chandler.

In 1787, aged fourteen, Bowditch began to study algebra and two years later he taught himself calculus. He also taught himself Latin in 1790 and French in 1792 so he was able to read mathematical works such as Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Among his many significant scientific contributions would be a translation of Pierre-Simon Laplace's Méchanique céleste, a lengthy work on mathematics and theoretical astronomy.

Serendipity aided Bowditch's self-directed study inasmuch as he found himself able to use the eminent Irish chemist Richard Kirwan's library: a privateer from Salem had intercepted the ship carrying the library between Ireland and England and brought the library back to Salem in June 1791.

In 1795, Bowditch went to sea on the first of four voyages as a ship's clerk and captain's writer. (One of his family homes in Salem, the Nathaniel Bowditch House, still exists and has recently been restored.)

In 1804, Bowditch became America's first insurance actuary as president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company in Salem.

Bowditch's mathematical and astronomical work during this time earned him a significant standing, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1799 and the American Philosophical Society in 1809.

As well as Harvard, the United States Military Academy and the University of Virginia offered Bowditch chairs in mathematics. Bowditch again refused these offers, perhaps (in the case of the University of Virginia) because the $2,000 salary offered was two-thirds of the salary he received as president of the insurance company.

Bowditch's translation of the first four volumes of Laplace's Traité de mécanique céleste was completed by 1818.

By 1819, Bowditch's international reputation had grown to the extent that he was elected as a member of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and London and the Royal Irish Academy.

In 1823, Bowditch left the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company to become an actuary for the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company in Boston.

Bowditch's move from Salem to Boston involved the transfer of over 2,500 books, 100 maps and charts and 29 volumes of his own manuscripts.

Bowditch's American Practical Navigator

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The American Practical Navigator

During his time at sea, Bowditch became intensely interested in the mathematics involved in celestial navigation. To have exact tables to work from, Bowditch recomputed all of Moore's tables, and rearranged and expanded the work. The task was so extensive that Bowditch decided to write his own book, and to "put down in the book nothing I can't teach the crew."

In 1802 Mr. Blunt published the first edition of Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, which became the western hemisphere shipping industry standard for the next century and a half. Bowditch's influence on the American Practical Navigator was profound that to this day mariners refer to it by simply as Bowditch.

Legacy

Nathaniel Bowditch died in Boston in 1838 from lactosis.

The following eulogy was written by the Salem Marine Society:

but as long as ships shall sail, the needle point to the north, and the stars go through their wonted courses in the heavens, the name of Dr. Bowditch will be revered as of one who has helped his fellowmen in time of need, who was and is a guide to them over the pathless oceans, and one who forwarded the great interests of mankind.

A lunar crater is named for him.

In 1955, a book for younger readers, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, was published, portraying Bowditch's life as if from his point of view.