Leslie John Comrie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leslie John Comrie (born August 15, 1893 in Pukekohe , New Zealand , † December 11, 1950 ) was an astronomer and a pioneer in the field of calculating machines .

During the First World War he was a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and lost a leg in battle. During his recovery, he first used a calculating machine and began modifying it for projects.

Comrie was the British Astronomical Association's first data processing director from 1920 to 1922 , when he stepped down to teach at Swarthmore College in the United States . There he advanced the teaching of numerical mathematics . In 1926 he returned to England to join the HM Nautical Almanac Office at the Royal Greenwich Observatory .

In April 1928, in his article "On the Construction of Tables by Interpolation", he described the interpolation of data in tables with the help of punch cards and compared this method with the less efficient and error-prone method, the mechanical calculator used. In the same year he was the first to use punch card technology to carry out scientific calculations. He used Fourier analysis to calculate the position of the moon from 1935 to 2000.

He was the head of the HM Nautical Almanac Office from 1930 to 1936.

Comrie founded the world's first computer office in 1938 . During the Second World War , he led a team of 30 scientists who carried out war-related calculations with calculating machines (e.g. bomb tables for the USAAF ). He later worked on the calculation of Toto - betting .

Shortly before his death, Comrie was elected a member of the Royal Society London. A lunar crater (23.3N 112.7W), the asteroid (3521) Comrie , the Comrie glacier in Antarctica and the computer laboratory of his university, the University of Auckland , are named after him.

He died in 1950 at the age of 57 after a series of strokes .

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Comrie, Leslie John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand astronomer and pioneer in the field of calculating machines
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Pukekohe , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1950