In the early 1800s, when Napoleon had established his hegemony over most of Europe but was utterly ignored by Jane Austen in her novels, barber-surgeons took care of most of the bodily needs of their clients. They shaved their beards, pulled their teeth, drew their blood, lanced boils, applied leeches, and amputated limbs if necessary. They received their education through apprenticeships by working for several years under the guidance of experienced barber-surgeons. Physicians, by contrast, received formal university educations for seven to ten years, studied Hippocrates and Galen as well as religion and philosophy, wrote prescriptions according to the theory of the four humors, and avoided surgical procedures that were considered beneath them. Dr. David Hosack belonged to the latter ilk.

Born in New York City in 1767, he was the son of a Scottish immigrant. For his early education, he attended Columbia College, Columbia University, and Princeton. He then studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and briefly practiced in Alexandria and New York. To further his medical education, he went to Edinburgh and London and also studied botany with some of the great British botanists such as Sir Joseph Banks. Upon returning to America, he continued this interest by founding at his own expense the Elgin Botanic Garden in New York, located where the Rockefeller Center stands today. Over the following decade, he collected over 3,000 plant specimens and started training medical students in pharmacology, medical botany, and science.

In New York, Dr. Hosack developed a successful medical practice and gained renown by treating the victims of yellow fever. He became the personal physician to prominent families, including the Hamiltons and Burrs. In 1804, he witnessed one of the most consequential moments in early American political history: the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. According to accounts, he did not attend the event in person but treated Hamilton after the fatal wound.

Noted for his wisdom and quiet bedside manner, Dr. Hosack is remembered for co-founding the New‑York Historical Society, the Humane Society, and the New‑York Horticultural Society. He was elected to numerous learned societies, including the American Philosophical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, and the American Academy of Arts. Active in several medical institutions, he hosted several intellectual salons and mentored countless students. In 1816, he was elected to the Royal Society of London, a rare honor for an American. He is remembered for advocating smallpox vaccination, introducing the stethoscope into the United States, and pioneering various surgical procedures. His name is not well known nowadays, but when he died of a stroke in 1835, he was mourned as one of America’s greatest scientific minds.