Well known as a politician and architect, Thomas Jefferson also made important contributions to science. He was elected the third president not only of the United States but also of that most august of scientific clubs, the American Philosophical Society, following in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin and David Rittenhouse. He penned what was arguably the most important American scientific work of the eighteenth century, Notes on the State of Virginia. He designed architecture that promoted a healthy mind in a healthy body and the prevention of infectious diseases, and devised codes and a...