Part 3, Chapter 7 The Peirces, Section 2 Summary

Harvard students, many of which feared taking his classes, knew Benjamin Peirce as Professor Peirce. However, he had earned this right. He taught that math was not just a scientific language. He viewed math as the purest language of thought.

Benjamin lobbied the president and the Board of Directors of Harvard to create the Lawrence Scientific School, and to have a position offered to Louis Agassiz. He and Agassiz were colleagues, peers and friends for the rest of their lives.

Agassiz and Peirce, along with two other men of American science, not only took control of organizations, but also changed them to be more elite. They lobbied Congress to create a National Academy of Science to ensure the scientists were reviewed by their peers and not others who did not understand.

Benjamin Peirce was well...