A democracy of facts: natural history in the early republic

Introduction: from an empire of reason to a democracy of facts

The revolution in natural history practice: democratic science and the case of submerging swallows

Natural history and the market economy: the profitability of plants and rocks

The perils of a democracy of facts: interpreting American antiquities

Disciplining the democracy of facts: a theology of nature

Making natural history credible: geological surveys and the utility of Republican science

Epilogue: scientific practice in the nineteenth century.