caption doctoral_advisor death_date death_place influenced birth_place image_size nationality field work_institutions birth_date known_for doctoral_students image article_title name alma_mater
benjamin peirce nathaniel bowditch 6 october 1880 cambridge , massachusetts charles sanders peirce salem , massachusetts 220px american mathematics statistics science policy harvard university superintendent of the united states coast survey 4 april 1809 peirce of mathematics as the science of necessary truths linear algebras 's celestial mechanics criterion for outliers -lrb- statistics -rrb- definition joseph lovering benjaminpeirce5.jpg benjamin peirce
 benjamin peirce harvard university
benjamin peirce

benjamin peirce -lrb- ; april 4 , 1809 -- october 6 , 1880 -rrb- was an american mathematician who taught at harvard university for approximately 50 years .
he made contributions to celestial mechanics , statistics , number theory , algebra , and the philosophy of mathematics .
he was the son of benjamin peirce -lrb- 1778 -- 1831 -rrb- , later librarian of harvard , and lydia ropes nichols peirce -lrb- 1781 -- 1868 -rrb- .
after graduating from harvard , he remained as a tutor -lrb- 1829 -rrb- , 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 to 1874 .
