384 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



the World (1903), which was translated into Japanese; and his 

 novel His Wisdom, the Defender (1900) ; and finally The Reminis- 

 cences of an Astronomer (1903). 



No American was ever more conspicuously honored than Simon 

 Newcomb. Decorations, medals, and degrees were gladly con- 

 ferred on him. The much prized red ribbon of the order of the 

 Legion of Honor in the grade of "officier" was given him by the 

 French government in 1896, and in 1907 he was advanced to the 

 rank of "commandeur." The German Emperor made him a 

 Knight in the Prussian order of Merit for Science and Art, and 

 on his last visit to Europe, Professor Newcomb was received at 

 luncheon by Emperor William. In 1874 he was awarded a gold 

 medal by the Royal Astronomical Society of London, and in 1878 

 the great Huyghens gold medal was given to him by the Haarlem 

 Society of Sciences under the auspices of the University of Ley den. 

 This medal, it is interesting to add, is awarded biennially to the 

 individual, who by his researches and discoveries or inventions 

 during the previous twenty years, has, in the judgment of the 

 Society distinguished himself in an exceptional manner in a par- 

 ticular branch of science. Although awarded every two years it 

 is distributed among the various sciences, so that it is only once in 

 twenty years that it is given to an astronomer. In 1890 he re- 

 ceived the Copley medal from the Royal Society of London for 

 his contributions to gravitational astronomy. This award is 

 regarded as the most important of all those given by the Royal 

 Society and ranks as the "blue ribbon" of Science in England. 

 The first American recipient of this medal was Benjamin Franklin. 

 Newcomb was the first to receive the Bruce gold medal awarded 

 by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. It was conferred on 

 him in 1898 "as a recognition of services to astronomy." 



The appreciation of his work by the Emperor of Russia in 

 ordering in 1887 that his portrait be added to the gallery in Pul- 

 kowa, followed in 1888 by the gift of a jasper vase, as well as his 

 award of the Sylvester prize of the Johns Hopkins University in 

 1901, have already been mentioned. To these tokens of recogni- 

 tion may be added the facts that in 1889 the Imperial University 



