276 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 



search was for the first time recognized and 

 encouraged. Peirce took for his field the 

 development of the laboratory course in 

 electricity and magnetism, which he brought 

 to a high degree of efficiency and interest. At 

 the same time he devoted a large part of his 

 powers to the graduate courses on mathe- 

 matical physics, particularly the theory of 

 electricity and magnetism and hydrodynamics. 

 Besides this he threw himself vigorously into 

 the prosecution of research, which he kept up 

 with unabated assiduity until the end. With- 

 out going into these researches in detail, it 

 will suffice to say that they were probably 

 about fifty in number, and of considerable 

 variety. Beside those on various subjects of 

 mathematical physics, the experimental papers 

 nearly all required an unusual amount of 

 mathematical theory. Most notable are the 

 researches on the thermal conductivity of 

 various kinds of stone and its variation with 

 temperature, in which he had the collabora- 

 tion of his friend R. W. Willson, and his re- 

 searches on magnetism, on which he was still 

 engaged at the time of his death. Both these 

 subjects are of extreme difficulty, and to 

 them he devoted his best efforts, combining 

 remarkable experimental skill with the mathe- 

 matical knowledge necessary for their treat- 

 ment. It was this rare combination that 

 characterized the success of Peirce's work, and 

 made him such a valuable colleague. It was 

 said by one of his colleagues that he knew 

 more physics than any other member of the 

 department of physics, and more mathematics 

 than any other member of the mathematical 

 department, and the statement was not con- 

 tradicted by any of them. 



But this devotion to work, while producing 

 most satisfactory results, was not without its 

 penalty, for the inevitable result of overwork 

 was a nervous breakdown, to which he was 

 obliged to give way nearly a dozen years ago, 

 and to take the much-needed year of rest in 

 Europe. Unfortunately it was too late, and 

 one year was not enough. Although he re- 

 covered sufficiently to resume his work, eventu- 

 ally at his normal pace, he really never re- 

 covered, and the rest of his life was a brave 



fight against ill-health, carried on against 

 tremendous odds, with a cheerfulness which 

 deceived many. For years he suffered from 

 insomnia, and at last the mechanism was 

 entirely worn out, and after an extremely 

 painful illness borne with great fortitude he 

 succumbed to an attack of angina pectoris. 



But it was not alone his scientific work that 

 made Peirce such a source of strength to the 

 university, it was the influence of his rare 

 personality that drew to him hosts of friends 

 among students and colleagues. Absolute self- 

 abnegation and devotion to duty were the 

 keynote of his character. With him modesty 

 was so excessive as to almost cease to be 

 a virtue. When consulted by a colleague 

 with regard to some difficulty, almost 

 invariably his first response was that he 

 did not know anything about the subject, 

 and it was necessary to draw him out with 

 insistence in order to get at his superior 

 knowledge. He was always fearful of giving 

 trouble to some one, and frequently lay awake 

 at night worrying over the troubles of others, 

 never his own. Always cheerful and ready 

 with a joke or anecdote, he was the kindest 

 and sanest of advisers. Possessed of a sure 

 and childlike religious faith, he was almost a 

 Puritan in the conduct of his own life, but 

 absolutely sympathetic and charitable toward 

 others. Only himself he did not spare. Ofte» 

 his friends would remonstrate with hint 

 against his risking his health by overwork, 

 but it was impossible to get him to desist. His 

 teaching was characterized by the greatest 

 clearness and infinite pains. Everything that 

 he did was done with elegance and neatness. 

 Often the writer has marveled to see the 

 beautiful drawings that he made to illustrate 

 his papers, the curves being laboriously cut 

 out in zinc for greater accuracy. He kept a 

 font of mathematical type in the laboratory, 

 and set up many of the complicated formulae 

 in his table of integrals with his own hand. 

 Though a thorough Yankee, he had a broad 

 knowledge of Europe, spending much time, in 

 England and Scotland, and never forgetting 

 his precious years in Germany. He was a 

 great reader, and was extremely well informed 



