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Benjamin Peirce ( April 4, 1809 – October 6, 1880) was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for forty years. He made contributions in celestial mechanics, number theory, algebra, and philosophy of mathematics.
After graduating from Harvard, he became a tutor there ( 1829), then was appointed professor of mathematics in 1831Events February- March Revolts in Modena, Parma and the Papal States are put down by Austrian troops February 20 Battle of Grochow. Polish rebel forces divide a Russian army. March 1 Democrat Samuel Smith becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States. He added astronomyAstronomy which etymologically means " law of the stars," (from Greek: + nomos) is a science involving the observation and explanation of events occurring outside Earth and its atmosphere. It studies the origins, evolution, physical and chemical propertie to his portfolio in 1842Events February 21 John J. Greenough patents the sewing machine. March 5 Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution, and remained as Harvard professor until his death. In addition, he was instrumental in the development of Harvard's science curriculumIn education, a curriculum (plural curricula is the set of courses and their contents offerred by an institution such as a school or university. In some cases, a curriculum may be partially or entirely determined by an external body (such as the National, served as the school's librarianA librarian is a professional who works in a library. Although librarians are traditionally associated with collections of books, they are experts in the organization and retrieval of information in any format. Examples: Gramophone records and compact dis, and was director of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1867Events January 8 African-American men granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia January 11 Benito Juarez becomes Mexican president again January 30 Emperor Komei of Japan dies. Crown Prince Mutsuhito is expected to become the next Emperor of J from 1874Events January 1 New York City annexes The Bronx January 23 Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. January Signing of the Pangkor Tr.
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 to describe elements of these algebras.
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.
His son Charles Peirce was also an accomplished scientist and scholar.