American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic

by Victoria Johnson

Hardcover, 2018

Status

Available

Collection

Publication

Liveright (2018), Edition: 1, 480 pages

Description

"Whether collecting specimens along the banks of the Hudson River, lecturing before a class of rapt medical students, or breaking the fever of a young Philip Hamilton, David Hosack was an American visionary who has been too long forgotten. Alongside other towering figures of the post-Revolutionary generation, he took the reins of a nation. In unearthing the dramatic story of his life, [the author] offers a lush depiction of the man who gave a new voice to the powers and perils of nature"--Amazon.com.

User reviews

LibraryThing member MM_Jones
History of one doctor's quest to improve medicine and build America's first botanical garden. Lots of fascinating detail in this deeply researched story of an important figure in early New York. It suffers somewhat in scope with many detours into other contemporary happenings.
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
This is a biography of a little known man that was well known in his day; he moved in the highest circles of the Revolutionary War generals and presidents. He was the doctor at the Hamilton-Burr duel. But...this isn't so much a biography of a man as of the history of the early part of the country.
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It is a story of how New York City went from being a poor second to Philadelphia as a center of art, literature, culture, and science to becoming the city that defines those things for the US. Much of that is due to the subject of this book, and his friends. The main problem I have with this very readable book is that you get almost nothing about the good doctor other than his significant scientific and botanical accomplishments. Wives are mentioned in passing, children are born and die with only a minor digression, making it less a biography than a history. It is not the story of his life so much as the story of the scientific flowering of New York City seen through his works. Overall, it was fascinating reading, and the breadth of the book is astonishing, but I would have liked to see fewer repetitions of key points, a little more detail about the garden, and perhaps including more about some of the women that were crucial in this period. The author does mention at one point that the doctor believed in training girls in botany, and actually did so in his later career, but it is difficult to know that women existed in New York City at this period except when they were losing children, dying in childbirth, or grieving husbands shot in a duel...or paying for their husband's obsessions with money they brought to the marriage. Good, but not great.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
A very detailed and enlightening study of a man who would have a profound effect during his day and even today spreading his beliefs on the importance of Botany's benefits to society. David Hosack made this his life's work. He also rubs elbows with many of the founding fathers and is friends with
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Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr and is present as the doctor at their famous duel. He will continue to be friends with Burr even after its conclusion. This has an amazing amount of information on a variety of topics including New York City and Philadelphia history and the leading political and intellectual leaders of that time.
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Awards

National Book Award (Finalist — Nonfiction — 2018)
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist — History — 2019)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Biography — 2018)
Cundill History Prize (Longlist — 2019)

Language

Original language

English

Barcode

7181
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