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of the first "corporators" of the National Academy of Science. 

 From a group of young botanists inspired by his leadership grew the 

 Torrey Botanical Club. 



From these remarks it is evident that a biography of John 

 Torrey must indeed be a "story of North American botany." Some 

 readers of the present work may feel, however, that title and sub- 

 title would better fit the contents if they were interchanged. Mr. 

 Rodgers has given us what is essentially a synopsis of the botanical 

 exploration of North America, with biographical details of the prin- 

 cipal American (and some foreign) botanists of the nineteenth 

 century;— all against a background of extensive quotations from 

 Torrey's letters. Some will think that a biographer should have 

 made a greater eft'ort to penetrate this mass of detail and to portray 

 the human person within; others will doubtless maintain that the 

 letters tell the story. It is true nevertheless that the work is some- 

 thing of a hodge-podge, the main theme lost in the accompaniment. 

 This is the more to be regretted since, apart from his importance 

 to botany, Torrey was an engaging person ; naive, religious, unsel- 

 fish, modest, shy, — and wholly lovable. 



But there is another reason why this reviewer at least thinks 

 that the author should have written with a different emphasis. 

 Mr. Rodgers is not a botanist, and his attempts to evaluate the 

 place of Torrey in the history of botany are not to be taken seriously. 

 He assures us, for instance, that on two separate occasions Amer- 

 ican systematic botany was "born" ; and it is rather astounding 

 to read that Mendel was one of the "great theorists, [who] built 

 on the vast taxonomic data gathered and organized by leaders such 

 as Torrey." We see here a tendency evident in much modern biog- 

 raphy : to indulge in an orgy of hero-worship which covers a lack 

 of critical thinking. In the same tradition are the unfortunate at- 

 tempts at "fine writing." As a substitute for creative literature we 

 are offered perfervid periods. 



In spite of such shortcomings, the book has real value, par- 

 ticularly as a reference work for those interested in American sys- 

 tematic botany. The data are copious and accurate, and the student 

 will find useful notes on sources. There is also a "bibhography" of 

 Torrey's works, from which dates of publication and other critical 

 bibliographical materials have unfortunately been omitted. 



