Paul G. Comba

{{Short description|Italian-American computer scientist (1926–2017)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox scientist

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| name = Paul G. Comba

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| birth_date = {{birth year |1926}}

| birth_place = Tunisia, French Tunisia

| death_date = {{death date and age |2017|04|04|1926}}

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| fields = Mathematics, Computer Science, Astronomy

| workplaces = University of Hawaii, IBM Cambridge Scientific Center

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| education = Ph.D.

| alma_mater = University of Turin, Bluffton College, Caltech

| thesis_title = Geometry of finite dimensional moment spaces and applications to orthogonal polynomials

| thesis_url = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/10405/2/Comba_p_1952.pdf

| thesis_year = 1952

| doctoral_advisor = Frederic Bohnenblust

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| awards = Leslie C. Peltier Award (2003)

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class="wikitable floatright" style="font-size: 0.9em; width: 270px" |+ Minor planets discovered: 690
see {{section link	List of discovered minor planets}}

Paul G. Comba (1926 – April 5, 2017) was an Italian-American computer scientist, an amateur astronomer and a prolific discoverer of minor planets.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/apr/14/obituary-paul-g-comba/ |title=Obituary: Paul G. Comba |date=14 April 2017 |website=The Daily Courier (Arizona) |access-date=12 June 2017 |archive-date=24 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524074909/https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/apr/14/obituary-paul-g-comba/ |url-status=live }}

He was born in Tunisia to Italian parents in 1926, and moved to Italy at a young age. Admitted to university studies at the age of 17, He attended the University of Turin (1943–46). In 1946 he moved to the United States to attend Bluffton College, from which he graduated in 1947. He then attended Caltech, and completed his Ph.D. work in mathematics in 1951 (the degree was conferred at commencement in 1952). In 1951 he moved to Honolulu where he taught at the University of Hawaii until 1960.

He then joined IBM as a software developer, and later as a member of the IBM Cambridge Scientific Center. There he worked in Cryptography, and also developed a multiplication algorithm for large numbers, which reduces the multiplication time to as little as 3% of the conventional algorithm.{{Cite web|url=http://www.astroverde.org/guest_speakers.htm|title=Guest Speakers|website=www.astroverde.org|access-date=2018-11-02|archive-date=21 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121005920/http://www.astroverde.org/guest_speakers.htm|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://everything2.com/title/Comba+multiplication|title=Comba multiplication - Everything2.com|website=everything2.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-02|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328082502/https://everything2.com/title/Comba+multiplication|url-status=live}}

In 2003 he won the Leslie C. Peltier Award for his contribution to astronomy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.astroleague.org/al/awards/peltier/peltiers.html|title=Peltier Award {{!}} The Astronomical League|website=www.astroleague.org|language=en|access-date=2018-11-02|archive-date=27 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127132254/http://www.astroleague.org/al/awards/peltier/peltiers.html|url-status=live}}

He is the author of the Astronomical League's Asteroid Club Observing Guide,{{cite web |url=http://www.astromax.com/aaaa/pdf/al-asteroid.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506024144/http://www.astromax.com/aaaa/pdf/al-asteroid.pdf |archive-date=2006-05-06 }} and was an active member of the Prescott Astronomy Club.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pacorg.net/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004013432/http://www.pacorg.net/index.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2006-10-04|title=Prescott Astronomy Club|date=2006-10-04|access-date=2018-11-02}}