Bowditch, << BOW dihch, >> Nathaniel (1773-1838), an American mathematician and astronomer, is known for his extensive revision of The Practical Navigator, which he renamed The New American Practical Navigator in 1802. This book explains the principles of navigation and the most practical methods of applying them. The book still is called “the seaman’s Bible.”
Bowditch also wrote many scientific papers. He translated and added clarifying comments to the four-volume work, Celestial Mechanics (1829-1839), by Pierre Simon de Laplace. Bowditch’s translation of this work was widely used in English-speaking countries in the study of the movements of the stars and planets.
Bowditch became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1799 and served as its president from 1829 until his death on March 16, 1838. He was the first American elected a member of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Bowditch was born on March 26, 1773, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of a barrelmaker and shipmaster. He left school at age 10 and later worked as a shipmaster.
