Shooting for the moon: Benjamin Peirce’s ambitious 19^th-century efforts to elevate American mathematics through astronomy

Over fifty years as a mathematics professor at Harvard, Benjamin Peirce worked to elevate mathematical sciences in the US by championing educational reform, promoting research-level publication, and strategizing about scientific funding. He used his roles in the Nautical Almanac Office and the US Coast Survey to train and employ a generation of mathematical astronomers. Peirce further capitalized on the public enthusiasm generated by The Great Comet in 1843, the discovery of Neptune in 1846, observations of Saturn’s rings in the 1850s, and a number of total solar eclipses in the 1860s and 70s. Consistent and intentional advocacy from Benjamin Peirce sought to elevate the profile of American mathematics through astronomical work. This shaped how mathematics developed within the broader context of the establishment of scientific infrastructure in mid-nineteenth-century America.