Truman Safford
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Truman Henry Safford (6 January 1836 – 13 June 1901) was an American
calculating A calculation is a deliberate mathematical process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs or ''results''. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite arithmetical calculation of using an algorithm, to th ...
prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...
.
W. W. Rouse Ball Walter William Rouse Ball (14 August 1850 – 4 April 1925), known as W. W. Rouse Ball, was a British mathematician, lawyer, and fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1878 to 1905. He was also a keen amateur magician, and the founding ...
(1960) ''Calculating Prodigies'', in Mathematical Recreations and Essays, Macmillan, New York, chapter 13.
In later life he was an
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
director.


Biography

Safford was born in
Royalton, Vermont Royalton is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,750 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Royalton, South Royalton, and North Royalton. Vermont Law School, the state's only accredited law school, i ...
, on 6 January 1836. At an early age he attracted public attention by his remarkable calculation powers. At the age of nine, a local priest asked him to multiply 365,365,365,365,365,365 by itself. In less than a minute, Truman gave the correct answer of 133,491,850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941,583,225 with no paper. At around this age he also developed a new rule for calculating the moon's risings and settings, taking one-quarter of the time of the existing method. Unlike many other calculating prodigies, Safford did not give public exhibitions. He went to
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
where he studied astronomy. During his time at Harvard, he was part of the founding class of the Rho chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity. He became the second director of the
Hopkins Observatory Hopkins Observatory is an astronomy, astronomical observatory owned and operated by Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Massachusetts (USA). Constructed in 1838 by Albert Hopkins, the college claims that it is the olde ...
at
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
, the oldest extant astronomical observatory in the United States. Safford served as director of the Observatory until his death. In 1894, Safford had a stroke. He died on 13 June 1901 at 112 Broad Street in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Obituary Notes of Astronomers
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Legacy

The Safford Fund for Williams College student researchers was created by his descendants to honor him. A portrait of him as a child prodigy hangs in the Hopkins Observatory's Mehlin Museum of Astronomy, adjacent to the Milham Planetarium. His natural calculating abilities seemed to wane with age.


References


Further reading

*''The Remarkable 'Lightning Calculator,' Truman Henry Safford,'' Harvard Magazine, vol. 85 (1982), pp. 54–56. Co-author: K.R. Lewis.

* ttp://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/Hopkins/history.html Hopkins Observatory*"Obituary: Truman Henry Safford," The Observatory, vol. 24 (1901), pp. 307–309, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1901Obs....24..307 *"The Celebration of the Semi-Centennial of the Chicago Astronomical Society and the Dedication of a Tablet to the Memory of Truman Henry Safford," Popular Astronomy, vol. 21 (1913), pp. 473–479, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1913PA.....21..473F&link_type=ARTICLE&db_key=AST&high=4e8047f40e10119 *"Truman Henry Safford", Science, Volume 14, Issue 340 (1901), pp. 22–24, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1901Sci....14...22J&link_type=EJOURNAL&db_key=GEN&high=4e8047f40e10119 {{DEFAULTSORT:Safford, Truman Henry 1836 births 1901 deaths People from Royalton, Vermont American astronomers Mental calculators Williams College alumni People from Newark, New Jersey Harvard College alumni