Knight, Thomas S. Charles Peirce. New York: Washington Square Press, 1965.

Abstract

Psychologist, philosopher, mathematician, chemist, physicist - Charles Peirce (1839-1914) was all of these and with great brilliance. Yet much of his work went unrecognized in his own lifetime, and he died almost penniless and mostly forgotten by the intellectual world. Gifted with an extraordinary mind and a mercurial snobbishness, Peirce was too outspoken and honest in his opinions to be tolerated by his peers. Both his academic career and his personal life were total failures, viewed from the conventional values of his day. His great contributions to modern logic, semantics, and especially to the development of Pragmatism were hardly appreciated when he was alive and are just now coming into full focus. This intellectual appraisal of Peirce's work is an important study in the history of American thought.