PART ONE: 1800-1846; Introduction; Thomas Jefferson; Alexander Wilson; Nathaniel Bowditch; George Ord; Thomas Say; Thomas Nuttrall; C. S. Rafinesque; Jospeph Henry; Ellias Loomis; PART TWO: 1846-1876; Introduction; Joseph Leidy; John William Draper; Louis Agassiz; Asa Gray; James D. Dana; Daniel Kirkwood; Benjamin Peirce; E. D. Cope; O. C. Marsh; Chauncey Wright; PART THREE: 1876-1900; Introduction; Charles S. Peirce; Clarence King; S. P. Langley; Henry A. Rowland; Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley; Stephen A. Forbes; C. Hart Merriam; Henry Chandler Cowles; J. Willard Gibbs

This volume is a brief anthology of the most influential writing by American scientists between 1800 and 1900. Arranged thematically and chronologically to highlight the progression of American science throughout the nineteenth century ? from its beginnings in self-taught classification and exploration to the movement towards university education and specialization ? it is the first collection of its kind. Each section begins with a biography, putting human faces to each time period, and introducing such notable figures as Thomas Jefferson and Louis Agassiz.