Nathaniel Bowditch

Nathaniel Bowditch
Bowditch is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation.
Born	(1773-03-26)March 26, 1773 Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Died	March 16, 1838(1838-03-16) (aged 64) Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation	Mathematician, ship's captain, and actuary
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Boardman Bowditch, Mary Polly Ingersoll Bowditch

Nathaniel Bowditch (/ˈbaʊdɪtʃ/; March 26, 1773 – March 16, 1838) was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation; his book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.

Nathaniel Bowditch, the fourth of seven children, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to Habakkuk Bowditch, a cooper,and Mary (Ingersoll) Bowditch. 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 1786, age 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. He found thousands of errors in John Hamilton Moore's The New Practical Navigator; at eighteen, he copied all the mathematical papers of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Among his many significant scientific contributions would be a translation of Pierre-Simon de Laplace's Mécanique céleste, a lengthy work on mathematics and theoretical astronomy. This translation was critical to the development of astronomy in the United States.