17 Facts About Benjamin Peirce

Benjamin Peirce was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for approximately 50 years.

Benjamin Peirce made contributions to celestial mechanics, statistics, number theory, algebra, and the philosophy of mathematics.

Benjamin Peirce was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of first cousins Benjamin Peirce, later librarian of Harvard, and Lydia Ropes Nichols Peirce.

Benjamin Peirce added astronomy to his portfolio in 1842, and remained as Harvard professor until his death.

Benjamin Peirce was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London in 1852.

Benjamin Peirce is often regarded as the earliest American scientist whose research was recognized as world class.

Benjamin Peirce was an apologist for slavery, opining that it should be condoned if it was used to allow an elite to pursue scientific enquiry.

Benjamin Peirce first introduced the terms idempotent and nilpotent in 1870 to describe elements of these algebras, and he introduced the Peirce decomposition.

Benjamin Peirce proposed what came to be known as Benjamin Peirce's Criterion for the statistical treatment of outliers, that is, of apparently extreme observations.

Benjamin Peirce's ideas were further developed by his son Charles.

Benjamin Peirce was an expert witness in the Howland will forgery trial, where he was assisted by his son Charles.

Benjamin Peirce was devoutly religious, though he seldom published his theological thoughts.

Benjamin Peirce credited God as shaping nature in ways that account for the efficacy of pure mathematics in describing empirical phenomena.

Benjamin Peirce viewed "mathematics as study of God's work by God's creatures", according to an encyclopedia.

Benjamin Peirce was an avid juggler of diabolo and wrote about the physics of the game in Analytic Mechanics.

Benjamin Peirce married Sarah Hunt Mills, the daughter of US Senator Elijah Hunt Mills.

The lunar crater Peirce is named for Peirce, as well as the asteroid 29463 Benjaminpeirce.