American Eden

"... Victoria Johnsons fine science biography... A rich and compelling read." -- Nature "[A] captivating biography Along the way, [Victoria Johnson] restores this attractive polymathwho today is mainly remembered, thanks to a small role in a certain hip-hop musical, as the doctor-in-attendance at the 1804 duel between two of his patients, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton to his rightful place in American history. The rescue from oblivion is long overdue Johnson, an associate professor of urban planning at Hunter College and an authority on botanic gardens, never allows her subjects many achievements to weigh down her narrative. She writes trippingly, with engaging fluency and wit. She has a lovely way of conjuring up early New York and its denizensthe workers calling out as they unload cargo at the docks; the gentlemen crowding into the Tontine Coffee House for the news of the day. The books botany-related passages are particularly vivid. The author writes of plants delightedly, preciselyas Hosack himself might have done." -- Penelope Rowlands - The Wall Street Journal "If Rockefeller Center is haunted, a likely candidate for the ghost is David Hosack, the doctor-botanist who assembled a major plant collection on the site starting in 1801... Victoria Johnsons American Eden unearths Hosack, who was lauded in his lifetime but largely forgotten since. Hosacks Columbia lectures were, as one student said, as good as the theater, and so is Johnsons storytelling. She weaves his biography with threads of history political, medical and scientific and the tale of an up-and-coming New York City. An innovative medical practitioner, he was the friend and doctor Hamilton and Burr had in attendance on that July morning along the Weehawken cliffs for their ill-starred duel. Did Lin-Manuel Mirandas Hamilton leave you with an appetite for more? American Eden will not disappoint... In her ambitious and entertaining book Johnson connects past to present. David Hosacks garden may have been short-lived, but in our parks, gardens, medical practices and pharmacology, his efforts continue to bear fruit." -- Marta McDowell - The New York Times Book Review "Victoria Johnson follows Hosacks life and legacy through a range of detail and social context which answers all the answerable questions. It is 54 years since Hosack was the subject of a full biography. Johnson has added some more details, written in a lively way and has related him to other prominent people of his lifetime." -- Financial Times "American Edens many glimpses of the swamps, meadows, fields and flora lying beneath the city, meticulously mapped, are among its greatest pleasures." -- Times Literary Supplement

Victoria Johnson, a former Cullman Fellow, is currently an associate professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College (City University of New York), where she teaches on the history of nonprofits, philanthropy, and New York City.