Humboldt's Cosmos : Alexander von Humboldt and the Latin American Journey that Changed the Way We Se

by Helferich, Gerard

• ISBN13: 9781592400522
• ISBN10: 1592400523
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-12
• Publisher: Gotham

Summary

The thrilling story of the charismatic explorer who Simon Bolivar called the true discoverer of South America” and the daring expedition that altered the course of science.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 and presented to Napoleon, and, with the subsequent publication of his findings, he would be hailed as the greatest scientific genius of his age.Humboldt’s Cosmostells 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 and over the Andes, 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 became the first to study the great cultures of the Aztecs and Incas. In the process, he revolutionized geology and laid the groundwork for modern sciences such as climatology, oceanography, and geography—and his contributions would influence future greats such as Charles Darwin and shape the course of science for centuries to come.Published in time for the bicentennial of the expedition’s completion in May 1804, Humboldt’s Cosmosis a dramatic tribute to one of history’s most audacious adventurers, whom Stephen Jay Gould noted may well have been the world’s most famous and influential intellectual.”

Author Biography

Gerard Helferich worked in book publishing for twenty-five years as an editor and publisher.

Table of Contents

PREFACE: Humboldt's Ghost	xiii
ONE: Tegel	1	(28)
TWO: Tenerife	29	(22)
THREE: Cumaná	51	(30)
FOUR: Caracas	81	(20)
FIVE: The Llanos	101	(22)
SIX: The Orinoco	123	(30)
SEVEN: The Amazon	153	(28)
EIGHT: Cuba	181	(30)
NINE: Chimborazo	211	(24)
TEN: Cajamarca	235	(30)
ELEVEN: New Spain	265	(30)
TWELVE: Washington, Paris, and Berlin	295	(32)
EPILOGUE: Humboldt's Spirit	327	(6)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	333	(4)
SOURCES	337	(6)
APPENDIX I: Other Works of Alexander von Humboldt	343	(2)
APPENDIX II: Places Named After Alexander von Humboldt	345	(2)
INDEX	347	(10)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	357

Excerpts

Preface Humboldtís Ghost THE PAN-AMERICAN HIGHWAY SOUTH OF QUITO IS A highway in name only. Indifferently paved, its two unmarked lanes are potholed in some places and awash with mud in others. But it is Ecuadorís principal thoroughfare, and today the road is clogged with buses and trucks. The average speed is about thirty miles per hour, far less in some places.Though we are tracing the route that Prussian scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt followed in 1802, the countryside has been transformed in the intervening centuries. Strung out along the road now are a remarkable collection of structures in various stages of construction and decay. Mostly plain, cinder- block buildings with corrugated metal roofs, they include the expected gas stations (every third sign seems to advertise a vulcanizadora, or tire repair shop; apparently flats are a growth industry on the Panamericana). There are also places to sleep and to eat, but Motel 6 and Taco Bell they are not. How are the rooms, I wonder, at El Hotel Primitivo, hidden behind its raw cinder-block wall? And what is the specialty of the house at CafÈ de la Vaca, a squat white building painted with exuberant black spots?Gradually, the land becomes more rural, closer to what Humboldt would have seen. Commercial buildings give way to modest houses made of the rough local brick, with kitchen gardens sprouting behind them. Holsteins graze in the fields, and domestic pigs forage at will. Then the volcanoes appear on the horizon. It was Humboldt who named this region ìthe Avenue of the Volcanoes,î and one can see why. The peaks come in quick, snowcapped successionóPichincha, Pasochoa, Atacazo, CorazÛn, Illiniza, Yanaurc, RumiÒahui, Cotopaxi. Even Chimborazo is visible, some fifty miles to the south.At the town of Lasso, our bus turns onto a narrow lane. A few hundred yards farther on, we make another left and enter a set of stone-and-iron gates. Built in 1580, La CiÈnega is one of the great historic haciendas of Ecuador, with a provenance including some of the countryís most prominent families. The original land grant from the king of Spain stretched from Quito to Ambato, a distance of some fifty miles, but the vagaries of economics and politics have reduced the holdings to thirty acres, and instead of operating as a plantation, today the hacienda earns its keep as a hosterÌa. But even in its reduced present, one can glimpse its glorious past, when the hacienda was the stopping place of presidents and kingsóand Alexander von Humboldt, who, having already completed the first extensive scientific exploration of the Amazon Basin, was in the process of doing the same for the Andes.Beyond the magnificent eucalyptus allÈe, we pass a faded picket fence and circle a grand fountain. The impressive stucco house has three stories, whitewashed walls, and thick stone columns flanking the door. We disembark from the bus and enter, suddenly feeling underdressed in our muddy hiking boots and dusty fleeces. Inside, a wide central hall extends through to a lovely patio with cobbled walkways, formal flower- beds, and another fountain. In the hallway, on a pedestal against the wall, is a bronze bust of Humboldt. Depicting him in his later years, it captures his high forehead, wide mouth, and prominent nose. He has the tousled hair of an adventurer and the penetrating gaze of a scientist.To the right of the door is a reception desk. AndrÈs, our guide on this hiking trip, scoops a stack of room keys from the counter and fans them for the group. One of us will be lucky, he announces in his charmingly accented English. Because one of these keys opens the Humboldt Suite, the set of rooms where the great explorer stayed in 1802 while exploring nearby Cotopaxi. Preserved much as it was in the baronís time, the suite is the largest, finest accommodation in the hacienda. But it is a mixed blessing, AndrÈs warns, for the