By, Maureen Moran

o Bowditch’s life before and after naval navigation o The individuals who assisted in his naval/mathematical career o The New American Practical Navigator o Translation of Laplace’s work o Navigational Connection

o Born March 26, 1773 o Self-Educated o Worked as a Ship Chandler Apprentice

o Five sea voyages ( ) Sailed to East Indies o Began to study sea journals and navigation techniques o Took what he learned and taught others on the ship o Retired after his fifth and final voyage

o Became an insurance actuary in Boston o Still focused on mathematics o 1810 overseer of finances for Harvard o 1826-Death(1838) audited finances for Harvard

o Author of The Practical Navigator o Bowditch found over 8,000 errors in computation tables o This is the starting point of Bowditch’s mathematical efforts an_s_New.html?id=dixSNvhLq_kC

o Born in Portsmouth, NH o Navigator, Publisher, Writer o Author of American Coast Pilot o 1799 asked Bowditch to rewrite Moore’s publication o In the editing, Bowditch got the ideas for his own reference book

o Mentored by Bowditch in his later life o Traité de méchanique celeste (Celestial Mechanics) o Aided in translation of Pierre Laplace’s work o Peirce is considered America’s first true research mathematician px-Benjamin_Peirce.jpeg

o 1812 published first volume in the translation of Traité de méchanique celeste o Assisted by Benjamin Peirce o Translation provided more people access to Laplace’s work o “Thus it plainly appears…” Laplace_( ).jpg

o Published in 1802 o Included all necessary fundamental mathematics o Proofs similar to Euclid o Comprised of:  Navigating directions  How to calculate tides, etc /lots/book-bowditch-nathaniel-the-new-american-practical-navigator- newburyport vo-disbound-with-the-map-lacks-2-of-7-plates

o Provided mathematical proofs to explain work o Created reference book to be used for navigators and sailors o Easy to understand calculations o Revised and updated versions of his work still can be found on vessels Navigator-Bowditch jpg

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o Naval Navigation  Written for a mass audience  Provided easy to understand calculations  Information and calculations in:  Surveying directions  Calculating tides  Current

o Nugent, Jim. "Nathaniel Bowditch." Nathaniel Bowditch. Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society, 05 Feb Web. 01 Oct o "Nathaniel Bowditch." Nathaniel Bowditch. NNDB, n.d. Web. 02 Oct o Vaughan, Roger. "The Immaculate Bowditch." Bowditch, Nathaniel. National Sailing Hall of Fame, n.d. Web. 03 Oct o Bryant, Dennis. "Edmund M. Blunt." Maritime Professional. Maritime Industry Online, 22 Jan Web. 03 Oct o "Benjamin Peirce." Benjamin Peirce. NNBD, n.d. Web. 03 Oct o Gillispie, Charles Coulston. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 2. New York: Scribner, Print. o "The New American Practical Navigator : Being an Epitome of Navigation, Containing All the Tables Necessary... : Bowditch, Nathaniel, : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive." Internet Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct