John Huntington Crane Coffin
John Huntington Crane Coffin (born September 14, 1815 in Wiscasset , Maine , † January 8, 1890 in Washington, DC ) was an American mathematician , astronomer and officer in the United States Navy .
Life
John Coffin received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Bowdoin College in 1834 and was subsequently instructed in seafaring and astronomical navigation by his uncle King Porter, a captain .
In 1836, Coffin joined the US Navy as a professor of mathematics and taught midshipmen at sea when the US Naval Academy did not exist. In 1844 or 1845, Coffin moved to the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC , to whose development he made a significant contribution and where he remained until 1853 or 1855, although since 1849 he was no longer able to make astronomical observations because of deteriorating eyesight . He then moved to the US Naval Academy and was - as one of the few military personnel who were unable to take part in the fighting during the American Civil War - temporarily practically solely responsible for training there. In 1865 he succeeded Joseph Winlock as head of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac . In 1877, Coffin retired.
Coffin's textbook Navigation and Nautical Astronomy has long been considered the standard work in US naval training.
Coffin was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851 , was one of the charter members of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1869 , and to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874 . In 1884 he received an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin College .
Coffin was married to Louisa Harrison Coffin (1815–1871) since 1845, and the couple had five children. John HC Coffin is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC.
literature
- Charles W. Carey Jr .: Coffin, John Huntington Crane. In: American National Biography
- Charles Lanman: Coffin, John HC In: Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States: during its First Century. From Original and Official Sources . Anglim, Washington 1876.
- Coffin, John Huntington Crane . In: James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (Eds.): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . tape 1 : Aaron - Crandall . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1887, p. 675 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
- Coffin, John Huntington Crane. In: The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: being the History of the United States. New York: White, 1898, 1893-1909.
- George C. Comstock : John Huntington Crane Coffin, 1815-1890 . (PDF; 281 kB). In: Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. Washington 1913.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter C. (PDF; 1.3 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
- ^ Incorporators of the NAS. In: nasonline.org. National Academy of Sciences , accessed December 4, 2018 .
- ↑ John Coffin. In: nasonline.org. National Academy of Sciences , accessed December 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Member History. In: search.amphilsoc.org. American Philosophical Society , accessed December 4, 2018 .
- ^ John Huntington Crane Coffin in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved December 4, 2018.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coffin, John Huntington Crane |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coffin, John HC |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American mathematician, astronomer, and naval officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 14, 1815 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wiscasset , Maine |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 1890 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |