He continued his studies independently in New Haven and at home, due to the absence of Anthony Stanley, the primary professor of mathematics at Yale who was at the time dying of tuberculosis.

[2] He deferred taking up the appointment for one year, traveling to Europe to attend lectures by distinguished mathematicians.

He attempted to contribute to the theory advanced by Denison Olmsted of Yale in 1833 that meteors were a part of a mass of bodies moving round the sun in a fixed orbit.

[5] Using accounts of the path and timing of the meteor he used triangulation techniques to estimate its height and velocity.

[6] Results of this investigation, published in 1865, showed that the meteor showers in different months were occurring at different altitudes.