1783-1815: Science and Medicine: Publications

Benjamin Banneker, Benjamin Banneker’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris (Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Daniel Lawrence, 1791)—a collection of astronomical data and calculations, including tides, phases of the moon, and positions of stars for every day of the year, as well as predictions of solar eclipses. Banneker’s almanac was a significant achievement for this self-taught African American from rural Maryland;

William Bartram, Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws (Philadelphia: Printed by James & Johnson, 1791)—this account of Bartram’s journey through the forests of the Southeast from 1773 to 1777 contained vivid descriptions and detailed drawings of a wide variety of plants and animals;

Nathaniel Bowditch, The Improved Practical Navigator (London: David Steel, 1802)—for many years the classic reference book of sailors;

Edward Cutbush, Observations on the Means of Preserving the Health of Soldiers and Sailors (Philadelphia: Printed for Thomas Dobson by Fry & Kammerer, 1808)—the first American work on naval medicine;

John Syng Dorsey, Elements of Surgery (Philadelphia: E. Parker, 1813)—a teaching guide, with illustrations by the author. Dorsey’s book went through three editions and received considerable recognition in Great Britain;

Oliver Evans, The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide (Philadelphia: The author, 1795)—includes a description of the inventor’s automated flour mill;

Robert Fulton, A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation (London: I. & J. Taylor, 1796)—containing practical information on the construction and operating costs of canals as well as detailed drawings of related inventions, such as his dredging machine for cutting canal channels;

Alexander Hamilton, Report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, on the Subject of Manufactures (New York Printed by Childs & Swaine, 1791)—this official report stressed the need for government involvement in industrial development to ensure America’s economic independence;

Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Paris: Privately printed, 1785)—Jefferson’s only published work covers the geography, natural history, politics, economy, religion, laws, and society of his native state;

William Maclure, Observations on the Geology of the United States of America (1809)—contains the first geological maps of America;

Humphrey Marshall, Arbustrum Americanum (Philadelphia: Printed by J. Crukshank, 1785)—the first systematic study of botany in America;

Joseph Priestley, Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley (Northumberland, Penn.: Printed by J. Binns, 1806)—the autobiography of the famous scientist and discoverer of oxygen;

Benjamin Rush, Medical Inquiries and Observations, upon the Diseases of the Mind (Philadelphia: Kimber & Richardson, 1812)—a pioneering work on mental health care in America;

John Stevens, Documents Tending to Prove the Superior Advantages of Rail-ways and Steam-carriages over Canal Navigation (New York: Printed by T. & J. Swords, 1812)—this influential work, along with Stevens’s later design and construction of an experimental steam locomotive, was a significant step in the development of railroads in America;

Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Philosophical Papers (London: Printed for T. Cadell Jr. & W. Davies, 1802)—includes a 1798 article describing his discovery that heat is not a substance but a form of motion;

Benjamin Waterhouse, A Prospect of Exterminating the Small Pox (Cambridge, Mass.: Printed by William Hilliard, 1800)—describes the positive results he achieved in Boston with English physician Edward Jenner’s cowpox vaccine;

Waterhouse, Cautions to Young Persons Concerning Health … Shewing the Evil Tendency of the Use of Tobacco upon Young Persons; More Especially the Pernicious Effects of Smoking Cigars (Cambridge, Mass.: Printed at the University Press by W. Hilliard, 1805)—in this popular antitobacco pamphlet, Dr. Waterhouse complained that Harvard students looked “pallid, languid, and unhealthy” due to excessive tobacco use;

Alexander Wilson, American Ornithology, 9 volumes (Philadelphia: Bradford & Inskeep, 1808–1814)—this massive study of the birds of America predated the work of John James Audubon.