Amos Eaton
Educator, Scientist
1776-1842
Eaton gradutated from Williams College in 1799 and settled in Catskill,
N.Y., as a lawyer, but later abandoned his law practice to pursue
his great interest in the natural sciences.
He instituted a course of popular lectures in botany and published
a manual that succeeded through eight editions. He surveyed the
district along the Erie Canal in 1824, the same year he co-founded
the Rensselaer School with the support and patronage of Stephen
Van Rensselaer. As senior professor, he created unique methods of
instruction that placed the student in the role of teacher and stressed
laboratory and field observation.
Eaton had a remarkable gift of arousing interest and enthusiasm
in others. A friend of Emma Willard, Troy’s pioneer in the
education of women, Eaton wrote often of his belief in educating
women in the sciences.
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