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| Affiliation | Independent |
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| Name | Benjamin Peirce |
| Address |
, , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
April 04, 1809
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| Died | October 06, 1880
(71 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Thomas Walker
Sep 04, 2009 12:46pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Scientist.
Benjamin Peirce, (April 4, 1809 – October 6, 1880) was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for forty years. He made contributions to celestial mechanics, number theory, algebra, and the philosophy of mathematics.
After graduating from Harvard, he remained as a tutor (1829), and was subsequently appointed professor of mathematics in 1831. He added astronomy to his portfolio in 1842, and remained as Harvard professor until his death. In addition, he was instrumental in the development of Harvard's science curriculum, served as the college librarian, and was director of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1867 from 1874.
In number theory, he proved there is no odd perfect number with fewer than four prime factors.
In algebra, he was notable for the study of associative algebras. He first introduced the terms idempotent and nilpotent in 1870 to describe elements of these algebras, and he also introduced the Peirce decomposition.
In the philosophy of mathematics, he became known for the statement that "Mathematics is the science that draws necessary conclusions", and believed, along with George Boole, that mathematics could be used to analyze logic. This was in opposition to the program of Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell to base mathematics on logic.
He was an expert witness in the Howland will forgery trial. His analysis of the signature in question showed that it resembled another particular handwriting example so closely that the chances of such a match were statistically extremely remote.
As a person he was devoutly Christian, seeing "mathematics as study of God's work by God's creatures."
He married Sarah Hunt Mills, the daughter of U.S. Senator Elijah Hunt Mills. They produced three sons and a daughter: Charles Sanders Peirce a famous logician, James Mils Peirce, who also taught mathematics at Harvard, and Herbert Henry Davis Peirce, who worked for Herter Brothers.
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