Leslie John Comrie FRS was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.
11 Facts About Leslie Comrie
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Leslie John Comrie was born in Pukekohe, New Zealand, on 15 August 1893.
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Leslie Comrie attended Auckland University College from 1912 to 1916, graduating with BA and MA degrees with Honours in Chemistry.
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Leslie Comrie travelled to the United States to teach at Swarthmore College and Northwestern University in 1924, where he pioneered the teaching of numerical analysis.
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Leslie Comrie returned to England to join the HM Nautical Almanac Office at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, where he became deputy superintendent in 1926.
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Leslie Comrie was promoted to Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac Office in 1930.
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Leslie Comrie founded in 1937 the world's first private company for scientific computing, incorporated as Scientific Computing Service, Limited.
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Leslie Comrie later used this technology to computerize British football pools.
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Leslie Comrie was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in March 1950.
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Leslie Comrie is remembered for his work in astronomy, as he published both scientific and popular articles on subjects ranging from predicting eclipses to the green flash.
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Leslie Comrie died on 11 December 1950 at age 57, following a series of strokes.