Gustav Eisen

Gustav Eisen was a Swedish-American scientist whose work ranged across zoology, archaeology, geography, and horticulture. Trained at Uppsala University, he settled in California and held curatorial roles at the California Academy of Sciences. His practical study of fruit growing produced Fig Culture: Edible Figs – Their Culture and Curing, the first part of an 1897 United States Department of Agriculture bulletin assembled with horticulturist Frank S. Earle. Eisen’s section explains fig flowers and fruit structure, classifies edible varieties, and addresses climate, propagation, grafting, planting, pruning, harvesting, drying, curing, and packing. The bulletin identifies him as curator in biology at the academy, joining scientific observation to advice for growers in California and comparable regions. Eisen later expanded the subject in a much larger USDA work on the history, culture, curing, and varieties of figs. Fig Culture: Edible Figs – Their Culture and Curing captures the applied horticultural strand within an unusually broad scientific career.