Scientist And Educator

Yale.

Benjamin Silliman Sr. was born in Connecticut in 1779, in the midst of the American Revolution. At the time of his birth the British were holding his father, Gold Selleck Silliman, prisoner of war. His mother, Mary Fish Noyes Silliman, imparted to him in his youth her devout evangelical faith. Having received his early education from his pastor, Andrew Eliot, he entered Yale College in 1792, graduating in 1796. After a brief stint working on the family farm and teaching grammar school, Silliman returned to New Haven to study law under the guidance of two local attorneys. He was admitted to the bar in 1802.

Scientific Career.

Silliman's future did not include a career in law, however. During his last year of study he also served as a college tutor at Yale. At the end of the period and just after his admission to...