Selected Writings of Alexander von Humboldt
Selected Writings of Alexander von Humboldt

Author: Alexander von Humboldt

Publisher: Everyman's Library

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 842

ISBN-13: 1101908076

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A new hardcover selection of the best writings of the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world. Selected and introduced by Andrea Wulf. Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether he was climbing volcanoes in the Andes, racing through anthrax-infected Siberia, or publishing groundbreaking bestsellers. Ahead of his time, he recognized nature as an interdependent whole and he saw before anyone else that humankind was on a path to destroy it. His visits to the Americas led him to argue that the indigenous peoples possessed ancient cultures with sophisticated languages, architecture, and art, and his expedition to Cuba prompted him to denounce slavery as “the greatest evil ever to have afflicted humanity.” To Humboldt, the melody of his prose was as important as its empirical content, and this selection from his most famous works—including Cosmos, Views of Nature, and Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, among others—allows us the pleasure of reading his own accounts of his daring explorations. Humboldt’s writings profoundly influenced naturalists and poets including Darwin, Thoreau, Muir, Goethe, Wordsworth, and Whitman. The Selected Writings is not only a tribute to Humboldt’s important role in environmental history and science, but also to his ability to fashion powerfully poetic narratives out of scientific observations.

Humboldt's Cosmos
Humboldt's Cosmos

Author: Gerard Helferich

Publisher: Tantor eBooks

Published: 2011-08-31

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1618030108

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From 1799 to 1804, German naturalist and adventurer Alexander von Humboldt conducted the first extensive scientific exploration of Latin America. At the completion of his arduous 6,000-mile journey, he was feted by Thomas Jefferson, presented to Napoleon and, after the publication of his findings, hailed as the greatest scientific genius of his age. Humboldt’s Cosmos tells the story of this extraordinary man who was equal parts Einstein and Livingstone, and of the adventure that defined his life. Gerard Helferich vividly recounts Humboldt’s expedition through the Amazon, over the Andes, and across Mexico and Cuba, highlighting his paradigm-changing discoveries along the way. During the course of the expedition, Humboldt cataloged more than 60,000 plants, set an altitude record climbing the volcano Chimborazo, and introduced millions of Europeans and Americans to the great cultures of the Inca and the Aztecs. In the process, he also revolutionized geology and laid the groundwork for modern sciences such as climatology, oceanography, and geography. His contributions would profoundly influence future greats such as Charles Darwin and shape the course of science for centuries to come. Humboldt’s Cosmos is a dramatic tribute to one of history’s most audacious adventurers, who, as Stephen Jay Gould noted, "may well have been the world’s most famous and influential intellectual."

Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt

Author: Danica Novgorodoff

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

Published: 2022-02-22

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 1524773107

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Budding botanists, growing geologists, and early explorers will dive into this picture book biography about the father of ecology, Alexander von Humboldt. The captivating prose and art from a New York Times bestselling illustrator will spark a passion for discovery and conservation in the youngest readers. Whether sailing across the ocean, hiking through the jungle, or climbing the highest volcanic peaks, everywhere Alexander went, he observed the land, animals, and culture. And where others saw differences, Alexander spotted connections. Discover the incredible life of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, whose explorations created the basis for modern ecology, whose travels made him one of the most famous scientists of his day, and whose curiosities have inspired generations of creative thinkers.

Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Author: Alexander von Humboldt

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 660

ISBN-13: 0226865061

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland set out to determine whether the Orinoco River connected with the Amazon. But what started as a trip to investigate a relatively minor geographical controversy became the basis of a five-year exploration throughout South America, Mexico, and Cuba. The discoveries amassed by Humboldt and Bonpland were staggering, and much of today’s knowledge of tropical zoology, botany, geography, and geology can be traced back to Humboldt’s numerous records of these expeditions. One of these accounts, Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, firmly established Alexander von Humboldt as the founder of Mesoamerican studies. In Views of the Cordilleras—first published in French between 1810 and 1813—Humboldt weaves together magnificently engraved drawings and detailed texts to achieve multifaceted views of cultures and landscapes across the Americas. In doing so, he offers an alternative perspective on the New World, combating presumptions of its belatedness and inferiority by arguing that the “old” and the “new” world are of the same geological age. This critical edition of Views of the Cordilleras—the second volume in the Alexander von Humboldt in English series—contains a new, unabridged English translation of Humboldt’s French text, as well as annotations, a bibliography, and all sixty-nine plates from the original edition, many of them in color.

The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt
The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt

Author: Andrea Wulf

Publisher: Pantheon

Published: 2019-04-02

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1524747378

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR From the New York Times bestselling author of The Invention of Nature, comes a breathtakingly illustrated and brilliantly evocative recounting of Alexander Von Humboldt's five year expedition in South America. Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, but his most revolutionary idea was a radical vision of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. His theories and ideas were profoundly influenced by a five-year exploration of South America. Now Andrea Wulf partners with artist Lillian Melcher to bring this daring expedition to life, complete with excerpts from Humboldt's own diaries, atlases, and publications. She gives us an intimate portrait of the man who predicted human-induced climate change, fashioned poetic narrative out of scientific observation, and influenced iconic figures such as Simón Bolívar, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and John Muir. This gorgeous account of the expedition not only shows how Humboldt honed his groundbreaking understanding of the natural world but also illuminates the man and his passions.

Alexander Von Humboldt
Alexander Von Humboldt

Author: Maren Meinhardt

Publisher:

Published: 2019-09-09

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9781629190198

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

2019 marks the 250th anniversary of Alexander von Humboldt's birth--and this deeply researched and beautifully written biography celebrates this most famous scientist of the Romantic Age who was a pioneer of modern geography, earth sciences, ecology, and environmental protection.

Essay on the Geography of Plants
Essay on the Geography of Plants

Author: Alexander von Humboldt

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-07-15

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0226360687

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The legacy of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) looms large over the natural sciences. His 1799–1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aimé Bonpland set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, and inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson, Goethe, Thoreau, Poe, and Church. The chronicles of the expedition were published in Paris after Humboldt’s return, and first among them was the 1807 “Essay on the Geography of Plants.” Among the most cited writings in natural history, after the works of Darwin and Wallace, this work appears here for the first time in a complete English-language translation. Covering far more than its title implies, it represents the first articulation of an integrative “science of the earth, ” encompassing most of today’s environmental sciences. Ecologist Stephen T. Jackson introduces the treatise and explains its enduring significance two centuries after its publication.

Alexander Von Humboldt
Alexander Von Humboldt

Author: Ottmar Ette

Publisher: Prestel Publishing

Published: 2018-09

Total Pages: 736

ISBN-13: 9783791383545

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This stunning volume delves into the extraordinary illustrated notebooks of Alexander von Humboldt's journeys through the Americas, which reveal the graphic musings of an intrepid explorer, a writer and philosopher, and the father of the environmental movement. At the dawn of the 19th century, the Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt was granted permission to charter an expedition to Spain's colonies in the New World. Over the course of five years, Humboldt would travel to the Orinoco and Amazon rivers, predict the agricultural and commercial potential of Cuba, climb higher in the Andes than anyone before him, and acknowledge the achievements of the ancient indigenous American civilizations. And he recorded it all in a series of diaries. On occasion of the 250th anniversary of Humboldt's birth, the drawings from these diaries are now available in a large format, slip-cased edition. Structured thematically, the 450 illustrations have been painstakingly reproduced, complete with handwritten notes, ink stains and water spots. Humboldt drew everything he saw--Incan ruins, electric eels, the transit of Mercury, silver mines, and ocean currents. In addition to being remarkably well preserved, these drawings offer tremendous insight into Humboldt's prescient observations. Featuring commentary by a renowned expert on Humboldt's work, this breathtaking volume will bring to life one of history's most accomplished thinkers, while providing fascinating reading for anyone interested in history and nature.