* Astronomy

John Winthrop (December 19, 1714 - May 3, 1779) was the 2nd Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Harvard College. He was a distinguished mathematician, physicist and astronomer, born in Boston, Mass. His great-great-grandfather, also named John Winthrop, was founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
He was noted for attempting to explain the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 as a scientific - rather than religious - phenomenon, and his application of mathematical computations to earthquake activity following the great quake has formed the basis of the claim made on his behalf as the founder of the science of seismology. Additionally, he observed the transits of Mercury in 1740 and 1761 and journeyed to Nova Scotia to observe a transit of Venus. He travelled in a ship provided by the Province of Massachusetts - probably the first scientific expedition ever sent out by any incipient American state.
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