{"title":"Books by Alexander von Humboldt","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780226422473","title":"Views of Nature","description":"While the influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769 1859) looms large over the natural sciences, his legacy reaches far beyond the field notebooks of naturalists. Von Humboldt's 1799 1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aime Bonpland not only set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, but also served as the raw material for his many volumes works of both scientific rigor and aesthetic beauty that inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson, Goethe, Thoreau, Poe, and Frederic Edwin Church. Views of Nature, or Ansichten der Natur, was von Humboldt's best-known and most influential work and his personal favorite. While the essays that comprise it are themselves remarkable as innovative, early pieces of nature writing they were cited by Thoreau as a model for his own work the book's extensive endnotes incorporate some of von Humboldt's most beautiful prose and mature thinking on vegetation structure, its origins in climate patterns, and its implications for the arts.   Written for both a literary and a scientific audience, Views of Nature was translated into English (twice), Spanish, and French in the nineteenth century, and it was read widely in Europe and the Americas. But in contrast to many of von Humboldt's more technical works, Views of Nature has been unavailable in English for more than one hundred years. Largely neglected in the United States during the twentieth century, von Humboldt's contributions to the humanities and the sciences are now undergoing a revival to which this new translation will be a critical contribution.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227837903221,"sku":"9780226422473","price":27.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780226422473_6c055edc-ec43-4b9c-8e75-827b8b654b97.jpg?v=1786012464"},{"product_id":"9780226054735","title":"Essay on the Geography of Plants","description":"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 Aime 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 von 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.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56228094312821,"sku":"9780226054735","price":29.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780226054735_95d7f8e7-be63-49ba-ad3c-97cb1ecbbcdf.jpg?v=1786012276"},{"product_id":"9781841593876","title":"Selected Writings","description":"\u003cp\u003eHumboldt (1769–1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether climbing volcanoes in the Andes, swimming with crocodiles, 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. He was one of the first European to study the Inca, Aztec and Mayan cultures and his epic five-year expedition to Latin America (1799–1804) prompted him to denounce slavery as 'the greatest evil ever to have afflicted humanity'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo Humboldt, the melody of his prose was as important as its content, and this selection from his most famous works - the \u003ci\u003ePersonal Narrative \u003c\/i\u003eof his travels to Latin America,\u003ci\u003e Cosmos, Views of Nature, Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Geography of Plants \u003c\/i\u003eand his anti-slavery essay in\u003ci\u003e Political Essay of the Island of Cuba\u003c\/i\u003e - allows us the pleasure of reading his own accounts of his daring explorations and new concept of nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHumboldt’s writings profoundly influenced naturalists and poets including Darwin, Thoreau, Muir, Goethe, Wordsworth, and Whitman. The \u003ci\u003eSelected Writings \u003c\/i\u003eis 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307657212277,"sku":"9781841593876","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781841593876_f36156f1-38c7-49a5-9195-00192fd068ac.jpg?v=1786027833"},{"product_id":"9783847252726","title":"Ansichten Der Natur","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311144218997,"sku":"9783847252726","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9783847252726_d96cdb75-5500-4a31-80cf-e0717e2d4d2a.jpg?v=1786032034"},{"product_id":"9789359399690","title":"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804  Vol. 3","description":"\"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 - Vol. 3,\" authored by Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt, is a monumental work that chronicles their scientific expedition across the diverse landscapes of South America. Readers are compelled to continue reading to find out what happens next since the title character is so indulgent. Some stories are gruesome and bizarre, while others softly creep up on you and pull you in. The narrative is a captivating account of exploration, scientific inquiry, and cultural documentation. The book encompasses Volume 3 of their journey, detailing their travels from Spain to the northern parts of South America, particularly Venezuela and Colombia. Humboldt and Bonpland, both distinguished naturalists and explorers, embarked on a five-year expedition to study the region's geography, geology, flora, fauna, and indigenous cultures. Their goal was to comprehensively document and analyze the equatorial regions, shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the natural world. Throughout the narrative, the authors vividly describe their experiences, ranging from navigating treacherous terrains to conducting meticulous scientific experiments. They meticulously document the geological features, including the majestic Andes Mountains, and provide insights into the local flora and fauna.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311248093557,"sku":"9789359399690","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9789359399690_e383e8e0-9a27-4c03-973d-7301ca228b0a.jpg?v=1786032397"},{"product_id":"9789359398716","title":"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804  Vol. 2","description":"\"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 - Vol. 2,\" authored by Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt, is a monumental work that chronicles their scientific expedition across the diverse landscapes of South America. Readers are compelled to continue reading to find out what happens next since the title character is so indulgent. Some stories are gruesome and bizarre, while others softly creep up on you and pull you in. The narrative is a captivating account of exploration, scientific inquiry, and cultural documentation. The book encompasses Volume 2 of their journey, detailing their travels from Spain to the northern parts of South America, particularly Venezuela and Colombia. Humboldt and Bonpland, both distinguished naturalists and explorers, embarked on a five-year expedition to study the region's geography, geology, flora, fauna, and indigenous cultures. Their goal was to comprehensively document and analyze the equatorial regions, shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the natural world. Throughout the narrative, the authors vividly describe their experiences, ranging from navigating treacherous terrains to conducting meticulous scientific experiments. They meticulously document the geological features, including the majestic Andes Mountains, and provide insights into the local flora and fauna.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311248224629,"sku":"9789359398716","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9789359398716_60e89271-d95a-4f4f-9c03-c661b320908d.jpg?v=1786032392"},{"product_id":"9789359399560","title":"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804  Vol. 1","description":"\"Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 - Vol. 1,\" authored by Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt, is a monumental work that chronicles their scientific expedition across the diverse landscapes of South America. Readers are compelled to continue reading to find out what happens next since the title character is so indulgent. Some stories are gruesome and bizarre, while others softly creep up on you and pull you in. The narrative is a captivating account of exploration, scientific inquiry, and cultural documentation. The book encompasses Volume 1 of their journey, detailing their travels from Spain to the northern parts of South America, particularly Venezuela and Colombia. Humboldt and Bonpland, both distinguished naturalists and explorers, embarked on a five-year expedition to study the region's geography, geology, flora, fauna, and indigenous cultures. Their goal was to comprehensively document and analyze the equatorial regions, shedding light on previously unknown aspects of the natural world. Throughout the narrative, the authors vividly describe their experiences, ranging from navigating treacherous terrains to conducting meticulous scientific experiments. They meticulously document the geological features, including the majestic Andes Mountains, and provide insights into the local flora and fauna.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56313340428661,"sku":"9789359399560","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9789359399560_b7dd5c19-d397-42d9-ae5c-14b94b14f15e.jpg?v=1786032396"},{"product_id":"on-the-geographical-distribution-of-plants","title":"On the Geographical Distribution of Plants","description":"The first English translation of an essay that is among Alexander von Humboldt’s least known but most important scientific works.   In the nineteenth century, Alexander von Humboldt was arguably the world’s most famous celebrity after Napoleon. What started in 1799 as a serendipitous trip to the New World tropics with his friend Aimé Bonpland to collect plants and minerals expanded into a five-year exploration of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Cuba. The discoveries the two amassed were nothing short of staggering, and much of our knowledge of tropical botany, zoology, geography, and geology can be traced back to these journeys. The voyage, and the publication of Humboldt’s travel narratives and scientific studies from these expeditions, which totaled dozens of books, elevated Humboldt to cult status. In the last two decades, Humboldt’s writings have been rediscovered in multiple fields, including biogeography; Earth and environmental sciences; American and Latin American studies; nineteenth-century art, poetry, and literature; and transatlantic cultural history. His ideas are profoundly relevant to twenty-first-century thought on the relationship between humans and nature, and the ecological framework in which he viewed the world remains essential two centuries after his travels.   Among his many interests and explorations, Humboldt invested considerable effort in explaining the underlying causes of the uneven distribution of plant species across the globe. His extended essay, On the Geographical Distribution of Plants, is among his least known but most important works, laying the foundations for the development of ecology, climatology, and evolutionary biology in the following decades. It was published originally in 1815 as an introduction to a seven-volume Latin botanical monograph, Nova Genera et Species Plantarum. The essay, republished in 1817 as a standalone volume, held great influence over nineteenth-century naturalists. It is his most comprehensive and detailed treatment of plant geography. In the essay, Humboldt applies botanical arithmetic to reveal ecological and biogeographic patterns of plants, applications that still ground modern macroecology, and provides frameworks to link vegetation patterns and climate, essential in modern Earth system science.  Introduced and organized by ecologist Stephen T. Jackson and translated from Latin to English by Philip Holt, this book is essential for the libraries of scientists, historians, and all Humboldt admirers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57499308458357,"sku":"9780226502526","price":48.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-alexander-von-humboldt.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}