First published 2018
David Hosack bridges two worlds on that July morning in 1804. The physician accompanies Alexander Hamilton across the Hudson River to face Aaron Burr in their deadly confrontation. Both men trust Hosack with their lives. Hamilton relies on him as the family doctor. Burr considers him a close friend. This impossible position reflects the broader tensions Hosack navigates in the young Republic. Born in New York and educated in Europe, he returns to America with ambitious plans. He conducts pharmaceutical research, introduces new surgical techniques, and assembles an extraordinary plant collection. His greatest dream is creating America's first botanical garden. Political enemies and financial obstacles block his path at every turn. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison support his scientific work, but resistance remains fierce. By 1810, Hosack finally establishes his Elgin Botanic Garden on twenty acres of Manhattan farmland. The garden represents his vision of nature as medicine for a growing nation. Johnson reveals how one man's scientific passion shaped American medicine and botany during the Republic's formative years.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-figures, scientific-pursuits
Setting: New York, Manhattan, Elgin Botanic Garden, Hudson River
Period: 1804, 1810, Early Republic
461 pages · Hardcover · Liveright