William Newcomb a professor and theoretical physicist at the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...

, is best known as the creator of Newcomb's paradox

Newcomb's paradox

Newcomb's paradox, also referred to as Newcomb's problem, is a thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom purports to be able to predict the future. Whether the problem is actually a paradox is disputed....

, devised in 1960. He was the great-grandson of the brother of the astronomer Simon Newcomb

Simon Newcomb

Simon Newcomb was a Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician. Though he had little conventional schooling, he made important contributions to timekeeping as well as writing on economics and statistics and authoring a science fiction novel.-Early life:Simon Newcomb was born in the town of...

.

Newcomb started at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (then University of California Radiation Laboratory) probably in 1955 in the Energy Directorate. He was also an adjunct professor in the UC Davis/Livermore Department of Applied Science since 1971. He died May 29, 1999.