Horace Clifford Levinson (30 June 1895, in Chicago – 1968, in Kennebunk, Maine) was an American mathematician, astronomer, and pioneer of operations research, introducing quantitative methods and sophisticated mathematical models into advertising and merchandising.
[2] In 1909 the Society of Practical Astronomical was founded by two teenagers: Frederick Charles Leonard (1896–1960) as president and H. C. Levinson as treasurer.
[3][4] The Society was disbanded in 1917, but it played a significant role in the history of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
His work for L. Bamberger and Company, involved, among other things, a study of customer buying habits, the response to advertising, and the relation of environment to the type of articles sold.
His success in predicting general human reactions from the collection and analysis of great quantities of data led him later to initiate a study for Bamberger on the effectiveness, in terms of added sales, of keeping department stores open at night.