Darwin quotation on the course of his life: Botting
Humboldt quotation about longing for the distant and unknown: Humboldt, Cosmos
ONE: Tegel
Second Great Age of Discovery: Keay, Boorstin, J. Wilson
Humboldt biographical material: De Terre
Trends in geology: Greene, Laudan
Spain and its New World colonies: Schurz, Bernier
La Condamine: Smith
Humboldt’s instruments: J. Wilson, Botting
Humboldt’s predecessors and his philosophy: J. Wilson, E. O. Wilson, Mason
TWO: Tenerife
Prince Henry the Navigator: Boorstin, Keay
THREE: Cumaná
Humboldt’s letter to his brother from Cumaná: De Terre
Darwin passage: Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
Slavery statistics: S. Collier
La Condamine: Smith
Trends in botany: Boorstin
Columbus quotation: Schurz
Catholic Church and its missions: Schurz
FOUR: Caracas
Basil Hall on earthquakes: Schurz
Creoles and Gachupines: Bernier
Venezuelan independence movement: Worcester
FIVE: The Llanos
Description of the Llanos: Humboldt, Personal Narrative and Aspects of Nature
Galvani and Volta: Mason
Humboldt’s letter lamenting his failure regarding galvanism: Kellner
Description of hunt for electric eels: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
Introduction to the rain forest: Sterling, Revkin, Furneax
Bates passage on jungle quiet: Sterling
Description of jungle noises: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
Description of piranha: Roosevelt
SIX: The Orinoco
Early explorations of the Orinoco: Smith
Sir Walter Raleigh quotation: Eliot
Description of the cataracts: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
White rivers and black rivers: Sterling
Linnaeus quotation: Humboldt, Personal Narrative
Rubber: Collier, Revkin
Humboldt quotation on the future of the Amazon Basin: Collier
SEVEN: The Amazon
Introduction to the Amazon: Sterling, Smith, Furneaux
Cristóbal Acuña quotation: Radin
Early expeditions on the Amazon: Smith
Description of the Río Negro: Herndon
Article in Brazilian newspaper: De Terre
EIGHT: Cuba
Humboldt’s letter to his brother regarding Bonpland’s illness: De Terre
Humboldt’s letter to his brother about continuing his journey: De Terre
Description of the Llanos during the rainy season: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
Humboldt’s letter to Willdenow: De Terre
History of Cuba and Havana: Simons, Fagg
Hatuey episode: Simons
Longitude: Sobel
Humboldt’s letter to Baudin: De Terre
Columbus quotation on Jardines y Jardinillos: Humboldt, Personal Narrative
NINE: Chimborazo
Details of the journey and Humboldt quotations: De Terre and Botting, except as noted
Introduction to the Andes: Collier
José Celestino Mutis: Botting
Darwin and mastodon bones: Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
Speculations on volcanoes: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
Doña Rosa’s description of Humboldt: Botting
Humboldt’s letter to his brother regarding climb up Pichincha: Kellner
Nonview of the Pacific from the top of Pichincha: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature
Ascent of Chimborazo: Humboldt, Researches Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America
History of mountain climbing: Fison-Roche
Lyell’s theories and influence: Lyell, Greene, Laudan
Lyell’s letter regarding meeting with Humboldt: De Terre
Darwin quotation regarding Lyell: J. Wilson
TEN: Cajamarca
Details of the journey: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature; De Terre; Botting
Humboldt quotations: Humboldt, Aspects of Nature, except as noted
Humboldt quotation on Cotopaxi: De Terre
Humboldt’s letter to his brother regarding Indian manuscripts: De Terre
Geomagnetism: Kellner
Quotation regarding decrease of magnetic force from the pole: Humboldt, Cosmos
Introduction to the Inca: Kendall, Radin
Description of the Inca’s walled garden and the Temple of the Sun: Vega
Pizarro quotation regarding Inca roads: Schurz
Spanish conquest: Hemming; Prescott, The Conquest of Peru
Conquistador’s comments on sighting Cajamarca: Hemming
Introduction to Lima: Bernier
Humboldt’s letter with impressions of Lima: De Terre
Guano: “Guano Trade” case study, Trade and Environment Database, Mandala Projects Internet site, hosted by American University (www.american.edu/TED)
The Humboldt Current and El Niño: “Humboldt Current,” National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration website
Humboldt quotation regarding credit for the current named after him: De Terre
Argument concerning Native Americans: Humboldt, Personal Narrative
Controversy over Siberian land bridge: Nicholas Wade and John Noble
Wilford, “New World Ancestors Lose 5,000 Years,” The New York Times, July 25, 2003
Humboldt quotation on the unity of nature: Botting
ELEVEN: New Spain
Details of the journey: Humboldt, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain; De Terre; Botting
Humboldt quotations: Humboldt, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, except as noted
Introduction to New Spain: Bernier
Humboldt’s cross-section of Mexico: Friedrich, Anke M., “Alexander von Humboldt as a Pioneer of Western North American Tectonics.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, 2002
Introduction to the Aztecs: Thomas, Soustille, Díaz
Spanish conquest: Thomas; Prescott, The Conquest of Mexico; Diaz
Aztec song: Thomas
Doubts that Aztecs considered Cortés a god: Camilla Townsend, “Burying the White Gods,” American Historical Review, June 2003.
Cortés’s threat to Montezuma: Díaz
Mexica song: Thomas
Cortés’s comment on his countrymen: Prescott
Cortés’s comment on similarity of Mexico to Spain: Schurz
Introduction to Mexico City: Bernier; Humboldt, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain
Poinsett quotation: Bernier
Humboldt’s letter to Delambre: De Terre
Humboldt’s letter to the Institut National: De Terre
Nochistongo: “Enrique Martinez” in “Virtual American Biographies,” Virtuology Internet site (www.virtualology.com)
Mexican War of Independence: Bernier, Anna, Tutino
Humboldt’s comment on Indians’ account of the creation of Jorullo: De Terre
TWELVE: Washington, Paris, and Berlin
Details of Humboldt’s journey in the United States and all quotations from that period: De Terre, Botting
Humboldt’s and Bonpland’s activities from arrival in Europe onward and all quotations from that period, except as noted: De Terre, Botting, Kellner
Jefferson’s later letters to Humboldt: Positive Atheism Internet site (www.positiveatheism.org)
Changes in Paris: Bernier
Simón Bolívar and the Venezuelan independence movement: Worcester
Agassiz’s defense of Humboldt’s position in the Prussian Court: From his speech on Humboldt’s centenary, as quoted in the New York Times, September 15, 1869
Humboldt’s quotation of his brother’s passage on the rights of man: Humboldt, Cosmos
Humboldt’s address to the Ge
rman Association of Naturalists and Physicians, made September 18, 1828: Cornell University’s Making of America Internet site (www.library5.library.cornell.edu/moa)
EPILOGUE: Humboldt’s Spirit
Article on Humboldt’s death: New York Herald, May 19, 1859
Article on Humboldt’s death: New York Tribune, May 19, 1859
Article on Humboldt’s death: New York Evening Post, May 19, 1859
Article on Humboldt’s centenary: New York Times, September 15, 1869
Some possible reasons for the decline of interest in Humboldt: J. Wilson, Kellner, and the suggestions of John Edwards
Final Humboldt quotation: Kellner
Appendix I: Other Works of Alexander von Humboldt
BELOW are important works of Humboldt in addition to those listed in the Bibliography. The title appears in the language in which the work was first published.
Florae Fribergensis specimen plantas cryptogamicus praesertim subterraneas exhibens, 1793.
Humboldt’s first significant publication, including observations and experiments made on underground plants while he was a mining inspector in Germany; Humboldt argues that plants should not be studied in isolation but as an integral part of the environment in which they are found.
Versuche über die gereizte Muskel—und Nervenfaser nebst Versuchen über den chemischen Prozess des Lebens in der Thier—und Pflanzenwelt (2 volumes), 1797.
A report of Humboldt’s experiments in galvanism and nerve conductivity; the work created an international sensation when it was released.
Essai sur la géographie des plantes, 1807.
The seminal work in the science of plant geography.
Des lignes isothermes et de la distribution de la châleur sur le globe, 1817.
The work that introduced isothermal lines, a cornerstone of climatology.
Voyage aux regions équinoctiales du Nouveau Continent, fait en 1799-1804. (With A. Bonpland; 30 volumes), 1807-39.
The most ambitious and expensive publication of its time, including all the scientific findings of Humboldt’s American journey.
Examen critique de l’histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent et des progrès de l’astronomie nautique aux quinzième et seizième siècles, 1836-39.
A critical study of the early explorations of the Western Hemisphere; the work in which Humboldt explained how America got its name.
Appendix II: Places Named After Alexander von Humboldt
CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES
Guevea de Humboldt, Oaxaca, Mexico
Humboldt, Arizona
Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada
Humboldt, Illinois
Humboldt, Indiana
Humboldt, Iowa
Humboldt, Kansas
Humboldt, Minnesota
Humboldt, Nebraska
Humboldt, South Dakota
Humboldt, Tennessee
Humboldt Hill, California
UNITED STATES COUNTIES
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County, Iowa
Humboldt County, Nevada
BODIES OF WATER
Humboldt Bay, California
Humboldt Bay, New Guinea
Humboldt Current, Pacific Ocean
Humboldt Harbour, California
Humboldt Reservoir, Nevada
Humboldt River, Nevada
Humboldt Salt Marsh, Nevada
Humboldt Sink, Nevada
Little Humboldt River, Nevada
MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS
Humboldt Glacier, Greenland
Humboldt Mountains, China
Humboldt Mountain Range, Antarctica
Humboldt Mountain Range, New Zealand
Humboldt Peak, Colorado
Humboldt Peak, Venezuela
Humboldt Range, Nevada
PARKS AND FORESTS
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba
Humboldt Lagoons State Park, California
Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada
EXTRATERRESTRIAL FEATURES
Mare Humboldtianum, the Moon
Acknowledgements
FIRST, I’d like to thank my agent, Deirdre Mullane at the Spieler Agency, who is a gifted editor and valued friend as well as a talented representative.
Thank you to my editor at Gotham Books, Brendan Cahill, for his confidence, enthusiasm, and deft editorial touch.
Thanks, too, to Patricia Gift and Kay McCauley for their early encouragement of this project, and to Andrés and Nelson de la Torre, for reacquainting me with Alexander von Humboldt.
I am indebted to the New York Public Library, the Ricks Memorial Library of Yazoo City, Mississippi, and the Biblioteca Pública de San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, of whose collectiosn I made extensive use. Thank you as well to the many authors whose works I consulted in the course of my research; this book would not have been possible without theirs.
Thanks to Hugh Lacey of Swarthmore College for his thoughtful comments on portions of the manuscript relating to the history of science; to Frank Baron of the University of Kansas for reviewing passages on the life of Humboldt; to Timothy Hawkins of Indiana State University for his helpful critique of the sections on Latin American history; and to especially John Edwards of the University of Washington for his thoughtful reading of the entire manuscript. Any remaining errors are entirely my own.
I’d also like to thank my friends and family members, who sustained me during this project, including my mother, Marion Rehn, my brother, Bill Helferich, my sister, Marlene Bergendahl, and my mother-in-law, Florence Nicholas.
Finally, my deepest thanks to my beloved wife and first reader, Teresa Avila Nicholas, without whose faith and support this book would never have been begun, no less completed.
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