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

Finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for History, I felt this book actually deserved the prize more than did the actual winner about Frederick Douglass. This was truly original territory, which the Douglasss book is not. David Hosack contributed more to the development of America than did Benjamin Franklin in every effort he made. But we do not hear of him because he was not involved in politics. Perhaps that is the same reason the highly political Douglass fared better with the highly political Pulitzer Committee than the far-reaching Hosack.

Hosack's story reads better than fiction with elements of joy counterpointed with tragedy. Achievement with loss. International fame and local obscurity. And, yet, Hosack's contribution show more reverberates even today in America, reflected in the millions of home gardens, urban apiaries, and the current move today to preserve heirloom species of plants, particularly vegetables, maintaining biodiversity and seeking to prevent the loss of more species caused by mega-farming pressures of monoculture spreading an ever present threat of collapse of the food supply to disease and predation. show less

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. 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 show more 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. show less

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.

really enjoyed this. Had no idea one of our first botanical gardens was located where rockefeller center is now. Lots of interesting characters and historical events framed in a different perspective, with medicine and botany taking central roles.bit depressing that the garden didnt really get its due, but an enjoyable read

I probably should not have tackled this book during the holidays while I have been doing all the busy holiday prep and recovering from a hip replacement because my powers of concentration were not always sharp, but this is a book I might refer to again and again in trying to understand the world of the post-colonial United States. Provides an overview of the state of medicine, pharmacology and botany in the Early Republic and shows how important science has been in the development of the United States. Detailed research and good writing.

I found the audiobook for this National Book Award non-fiction title on #Hoopla. David Hosack was an important scientist and physician in the early days of the country. He fought tirelessly to establish a botanical garden for medicinal and other scientific purposes in NYC. While very well-researched and well-written, the book is a little unfocused and often goes off on side jaunts into other historical figures of the time period (Hamilton, Burr).

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 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.