At the age of twenty-one Moriarty gained recognition for writing "a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem", which led to him being awarded the Mathematical Chair at one of England's smaller universities. Moriarty was also the author of a much respected work titled "The Dynamics of an Asteroid". After he became the subject of unspecified "dark rumours" in the university town, he was compelled to resign his teaching post and he moved to London, where he established himself as an "army coach", a private tutor to officers preparing for exams.