The accidental causes of science are only accidents relatively to the intelligence of a man.

In 1872 Wright helped found The Metaphysical Club with other Harvard intellectuals such as Charles Sanders Peirce William James and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Although in general he adhered to the evolution theory he was a free-lancer in thought. In 1852 he graduated at Harvard and became computer to the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac.