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Title: Personal Narrative (Penguin Classics) by Alexander Von Humboldt, Jason Wilson, Alexander Von Humboldt, Malcolm Nicolson, James Wilson ISBN: 0-14-044553-6 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Entertaining account of 5 years in S.America
Comment: Alexander von Humboldt (of the Current fame) was a famous polymath during the age of enlightenment. Like many noblemen, he used his money and leisure time in esoteric pursuits, such as collecting flora & fauna and trying to find the deeper meaning of it all.
This particular volume has been well-translated from the original - there is none of that stilted 'I haf von the Cherman translated been' style - it reads conversationally (assisted by the editing-out of long passages where Humboldt takes one of his many diversions) yet it also gives us an idea of what the man was really like. There is an extensive set of notes at the back, not just references, but elaboration of the point, which I found very illuminating.
His travels to South America span 5 years, during which time he collects and measures EVERYTHING - for at this time in history, no-one knew what was going to be pertinent or useful to science or economy. There are some amazing descriptions where he was the first educated person to see places; the problems of travel in uncharted, trackless & mountainous country make terrific reading. We may scoff at the zeal of the man, but if Hiram Bingham hadn't done the same, we wouldn't have the fantastic ruins of Macchu Picchu to study.
We also learn of the relatively tight circle of 'scientists' at that time - almost everyone knew everyone else, either via letters, Society writings or personal contact - and they knew it all; there was as yet no division between geology, biology, zoology etc - it was just 'Natural Philosophy' and one studied the lot (of course some dedicated themselves to a favourite pursuit). What is amazing to us now is the most simple things were unknown; for example, a sailor at death's door deep in the bowels of the ship, 'miraculously' recovers when taken on deck, out of the fetid miasma of the orlop - well, who wouldn't?... There are many similar incidents.
Slightly heavy going at times, because of the writing style of the period, it is nevertheless chock full of interesting snippets and amazing discoveries, giving a great insight into the mind and motives of a typical adventurous philosopher of the time. *****
Rating: 4
Summary: My Opinion Thusly
Comment: I have to admit that just as I was starting to savour this thin slip of a book I found that it was, indeed, mere selections. The whole narrative is actually three volumes, over four hundred pages a volume. I was left with a craven empty feeling like a fiend for his needle. Humboldt's writing presages Thoreau and through him ponders the transcendent raptures of the natural world. Reading through the visit to the Caribs reminded me of my visits to the Grenadines where their presence is still redolent in the shadows under the almond trees. I felt that I had imbibed the same air as Humboldt.
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Title: Cosmos: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe (Foundations of Natural History) by Alexander Von Humboldt, E. C. Otte, Nicolaas A. Rupke, Alexander Von Humboldt ISBN: 0801855020 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates, Henry Walter Botes ISBN: 1589761979 Publisher: The Narrative Press Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Descent of Man (Great Minds Series) by Charles Darwin, H. James Birx ISBN: 1573921769 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book 1) by Eoin Colfer ISBN: 0786817070 Publisher: Miramax (Kids) Pub. Date: 03 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson ISBN: 0767908171 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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