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Date of Birth
Charles Sanders Peirce was born on September 10, 1839 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 2). Image citation: (Encyclopaedia Britannica, fig 2). -
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Work with the National Geodetic Survey
Spent time with field parties of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey surveying the U.S. coastline and create nautical charts of the coast to help increase maritime safety (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 2) (National Geodetic, par. 1). Reentered the Survey in 1861 as a computing aide to his father (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 2). -
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College
Graduated from Harvard College in 1859. Graduated summa cum laude in chemistry from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University in 1863 (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 2). -
Scientific Work
Charles and his father Benjamin were contracted to merge geodetic studies of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts which initiated Charles’s work with the theory and practice of pendulum swinging as a means of measuring the force of gravity (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 3). -
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Scientific Work
Peirce conducted pendulum experiments in Europe and the United States as well as the Canadian Arctic (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 3). -
Pragmatism: Peirce's Ideal
Best known for his published works dealing with the logic of science. He was an advocate for scientific thinking and pragmatism, which assesses the truth of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application as opposed to using theory or abstract principles (Burch, par. 25-30). Image Citation: (Lanir, fig 3). -
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Scientific Work
His research with gravity led him to make a pioneer determination of the length of the meter in terms of a wavelength of light (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 3). -
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Published Works
Presented 34 papers to the National Academy of Sciences. Most of them were in logic. He gave lectures at Harvard University and Lowell Institute in logic. He also worked in mathematics, physics, geodesy, spectroscopy, experimental psychology, chemistry, philology, philosophy of history and of religion, and the history of philosophy (Burch, par. 25-30). -
Date of Death
Died near Milford, Pennsylvania on April 19, 1914 (Encyclopaedia Britannica, par. 1). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQt8ouSeRgY]
