Essay

By: Simon Newcomb

Date: 1907

Source: Newcomb, Simon. "University Athletics." North American Review, 185, June 21, 1907, 353–364. Reprinted as Chapter 8 in College and the Future: Essays for the Undergraduate on Problems of Character and Intellect. Richard Rice Jr., ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1915, 115–130.

About the Author: Simon Newcomb (1835–1909) was a leading figure in American higher education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. An American astronomer, educator, and author, Newcomb taught in Maryland for three years and worked for a short time for the American Nautical Survey before entering Harvard University. In 1861, Newcomb became a professor of mathematics at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., a position he held for thirty-six years. His achievements in the field of astronomy included successful negotiation...