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children. (To give you some temporal and physical perspective, the Boston Tea Party, an event that
helped kick off the American Revolution, occurred in the same year. In fact, Salem is right next
door to Boston.) Bowditch lived 64 years, and died in 1838, about 20 years before the American
Civil War started.
Bowditch was a mathematician who focused on the areas of celestial mechanics and navigation. It
should be noted that he was never a fulltime mathematician; rather, he pursued these activities
during his spare time. To make a living, he worked first as a barrel-maker, then as an apprentice to
a ship chandlery [a store selling tools, maintenance supplies, and equipment for ships], then as a
sailor, a ship's captain, and finally as the head of several insurance companies.
An INTJ Sailor
You won't see the profession of sailor on any of the lists of "recommended professions" for type
INTJ. But like many of us, Bowditch was set on his career path not so much by his personality type
but by outside forces. The seed must grow where it falls. He made five voyages of about a year
each to places such as Africa, Sumatra and Spain. The first voyage he made as a clerk; the last as
captain.
Bowditch was not really interested in the physical (i.e. sensor) side of sailing, i.e. swabbing the
decks, hoisting sails, etc. Even as captain, he was bored with daily details:
It is said by Captain Prince, that Dr. Bowditch, though he had such a thorough knowledge of navigation,
knew but little of what is called seamanship; that he never went to see a launch in his life, &c. It is
without doubt true, that the mere detail of seamanship was always irksome to him. He has often told his
children that, upon common occasions, he left the management of the ship to his first officer; but upon
any emergency, he was not only ready and desirous, but, as is believed, perfectly competent, to perform
all the duties which could, on such occasions, be required of an experienced and practical seaman.
As an NT, Bowditch really wasn't that enthusiastic about performing repetitive mundane tasks that
offered no novelty. (In fact, his biographers later observed that, "his manual dexterity in any
particular craft might be doubtful.") He only wanted challenges, preferably mental challenges
rather than physical ones.
Fortunately, being a sailor provided plenty of mental challenges, because being stuck on a ship 24/7
gave Bowditch lots of time to study. "He was often seen on deck...walking, apparently in deep
thought, when it was well understood by all on board that he was not to be disturbed, as we
supposed he was solving some difficult problem; and when he darted below, the conclusion was that
he had got the idea. If he were in the fore part of the ship when the idea came to him, he would
actually run to the cabin, and his countenance would give the expression that he had found a prize."
NTs do get excited. Remember how Archimedes was said to have realized a mathematical principle
("Eureka!"), then climbed out of his bathtub and run naked through Syracuse? Bowditch's flights to
his cabin sound like somewhat similar.
On another occasion, Bowditch's vessel was preparing to attack a French privateer that was chasing
them down. His job was to sit in the powder room and pass up powder to the gunners on deck. But
there was a wait before the battle began, and INTJs don't like to waste valuable time. So Bowditch
took a seat on a powder keg, pulled out his slate and pencil, and set to work on his math. The
captain came by to check on the preparations and was astonished (and amused) to find him busily
occupied. Dryly the captain suggested that Bowditch could now make out his will. Bowditch
smiled and agreed.
This was not the only time Bowditch remained composed under dangerous circumstances. As a