The incredible yet true adventures of Alexander von Humboldt : the greatest inventor-naturalist-scientist-explorer who ever lived

The incredible yet true adventures of Alexander von Humboldt The greatest inventor-naturalist-scientist-explorer who ever lived

Volker Mehnert

Book - 2019

"A richly illustrated middle-grade narrative biography about the life and adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the late eighteenth-, early nineteenth-century Prussian polymath-explorer, lost hero of science, and source of inspiration for Charles Darwin and Henry David Thoreau"--

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Subjects
Humboldt, Alexander von, > 1769-1859 > Juvenile literature.
Scientists > Germany > Biography > Juvenile literature.
Naturalists > Germany > Biography > Juvenile literature.
Biographies.
Informational works.
Juvenile works.
Genres
Biographies
Informational works
Juvenile works
Published
New York : The Experiment 2019.
Language
English
German
Main Author
Volker Mehnert (author)
Other Authors
Claudia Lieb (illustrator), Becky L. Crook (translator)
Item Description
"Originally published in Germany as Alexander von Humboldt by Gerstenberg Verlag in 2018."--Title page verso.
"With 75 color illustrations"--Page 4 of Cover.
Physical Description
105 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 28 cm
Audience
Ages 8-12
Grades 7-9
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-105).
ISBN
9781615196319
  • Prologue
  • An adventurous boy
  • Farewell, Europe. Which way to the Americas? ; The volcano of Tenerife ; Across the Atlantic
  • Venezuela. First steps in South America ; A waterway through the jungle ; Solving a geographical puzzle
  • Through the Andes Mountains. From the swelter to cooler climes ; On top of South America ; Onward to the Pacific!
  • The voyage home. The land of silver ; An American president ; A global citizen in Europe ; The second man
  • New adventures. A whirlwhind trek through Siberia ; The world comes to Berlin.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

On the occasion of his 250th birthday, a German import offers an account of the life and exploits of the 19th century's most renowned celebrity scientist.Justly proclaiming von Humboldt a "blazing hero" of the transformation of science from the recondite pursuit of a few to a field of knowledge accessible to anyone, Mehnert retraces his expeditions through the Americas from 1799 to 1804 and into Siberia in 1829. He gathered crates full of specimens, intrepidly climbed volcanoes, mapped and took careful measurements, impulsively abandoned planned itineraries to hare off in search of rumored new wondersthen returned home to report on what he had seen and found, employing his gifts as a "mesmerizing storyteller" in a stream of popular books and lectures. Along with chronicling his long association with traveling companion Aim Bonpland, a botanist of note, the author offers nods to some of his network of colleagues, from his sister-in-law Caroline von Humboldt to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charles Darwin, and Simn Bolvar. His private life remains largely unexaminedincluding his likely same-sex relationshipsbut to round out his character and achievements, his sharp views on slavery and prescient insights on climate also get airings. Aside from a trio of maps the illustrations are largely just decorative landscapes or assemblages of tropical wildlife.Hats off for a now-unconscionably little-known hero of science. (multimedia resource lists) (Biography. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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