  Born in 1809, Peirce became a major figure in mathematics and the physical sciences during a period when the U.S. was still a minor country in these areas (Hogan 1991). A student at Harvard College, he was appointed tutor there in 1829. Two years later he became Professor of Mathematics in the University, a post which was changed in 1842 to cover astronomy also; he held it until his death in 1880. He played a prominent role in the development of the science curriculum of the university, and also acted as College librarian for a time. However, he was not a successful teacher, being impatient with students lacking strong gifts; but he wrote some introductory textbooks in mathematics, and also a more advanced one in mechanics (Peirce 1855). Among his other appointments, the most important one was Director of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1867 to 1874. Peirce also exercised influence through his children. By far the most prominent was  Charles Sanders Peirce  (1839–1914), who became a remarkable though maverick polymath, as mathematician, chemist, logician, historian, and many other activities. In addition, James Mills (1834–1906) became in turn professor of mathematics at Harvard, Benjamin Mills (1844–1870) a mining engineer, and Herbert Henry Davis (1849–1916) a diplomat. Harvard professor Benjamin Osgood Peirce (1854–1914), mathematician and physicist was a cousin.  Benjamin Peirce did not think of himself as a philosopher in any academic sense, yet his work manifests interests of this kind, in two different ways. The first was related to his teaching. 