The adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt

Andrea Wulf

Book - 2019

"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 excer...pts 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"--

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

508.092/Humboldt
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 508.092/Humboldt Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Nonfiction comics
Graphic novels
Comics (Graphic works)
Biographical comics
Published
New York : Pantheon Books [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Andrea Wulf (author)
Other Authors
Lillian Melcher (illustrator)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : chiefly color illustrations, color maps ; 32 x 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781524747374
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt began a scientific expedition like no other, from Venezuela through the Andes, Cuba, Mexico, and eventually the U.S. He traveled with botanist Aimé Bonpland, and the two measured, recorded, and collected everything they could for five years, sending thousands of specimens and reports back to Europe. Von Humboldt's desire for knowledge and understanding was limitless, a trait that frequently put him and his servants in great physical danger. It also made him famous, and his discoveries forever altered the course of modern Western science, giving birth to the environmental movement. Told chronologically, the narrative text is taken from von Humboldt's writing and other sources and enriched by imagined dialogue that captures his zest for discovery. Melcher fills the oversize pages with original drawings and collages, incorporating von Humboldt's correspondence, journals, and drawings, creating lush visual landscapes that mirror the dense jungles and dramatic terrain through which the two men traveled. It is an unexpected approach, but the collaboration works in this engaging biography of an important scientist who almost passed into obscurity.--Summer Hayes Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this successor to Wulf's Alexander von Humboldt biography The Invention of Nature, Wulf and illustrator Melcher gloriously depict the explorer and polymath's grueling five-year journey through the Americas, lionizing him along the way. Beginning in 1799 and ending in 1804, Humboldt's expedition with botanist Aimé Bonpland led him through the jungles, volcanoes, and savannahs of South America and Mexico, eventually terminating in Washington, D.C. Humboldt's work would go on to form the basis for much of modern environmental and conservation science, as Wulf points out in frequent allusions to his impact on figures such as Charles Darwin and Simón Bolívar. Though Melcher's crowded layouts sometimes impede legibility, her use of pen, ink, and watercolors with collaged mixed media (including samples from Humboldt's journals and sketches) lends a playful quality to the narrative, recalling Lauren Redniss's Radioactive. Less successful is Wulf's tendency to highlight Humboldt's anticolonialist writing while only briefly disclaiming, for instance, his theft of sacred, buried skeletons. Wulf also makes an unfortunate choice to combine Humboldt's many servants into an amalgam named only Jose, to whom Humboldt condescendingly explains Aztec history. Wulf and Melcher create an alluring narrative in dramatizing Humboldt's adventures for a generation that has forgotten him, but they fail to unpack the baggage of his tangled legacy. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Inheriting a small fortune following his mother's death and receiving special permission from the King of Spain, Prussian polymath, adventurer, and naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt (1769--1859) spent 1799--1804 exploring South America and Mexico. With botanist Aimé Boland at his side, von Humboldt investigated volcanoes, climbed Ecuador's Mt. Chimborazo (believed at the time to be the tallest mountain in the world), forged rivers, experimented with electric eels, waded through swamps, interacted with indigenous cultures, and made numerous important scientific discoveries that would later influence Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and Simón Bolivar. He is also reportedly the first person to predict that human behavior might result in global climate change. Artist Melcher uses a dazzling combination of illustration and collage technique spread across oversized pages that swirls with text, diagrams, and sketches in order to mimic the look of an explorer's notebook. VERDICT Drawing on von Humboldt's publications, diaries, and letters, Wulf (The Invention of Nature) brings her subject to life, cleverly allowing him to narrate his story in an affable if possibly anachronistic tone that makes the occasionally complicated scientific theory easily digestible. [See Prepub Alert, 10/29/18.]

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.