The Humboldt Current : A European Explorer and His American Disciples

Sachs, Aaron

ISBN 10: 0199215197 / ISBN 13: 9780199215195

Published by oxford university press, 2007

About this Item

illustrated 496 pages.

Seller Inventory # 001503

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Humboldt Current : A European Explorer and His American Disciples
• Publisher: oxford university press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199215197
• ISBN 13: 9780199215195
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

While everyone has heard of the 'Humboldt Current', few know anything of the man after whom it was named. Yet Alexander von Humboldt was a towering figure of his time - scientist, explorer, and polymath, imbued with Enlightenment ideas - and he left a profound impact on the intellectual life of 19th century America. Aaron Sachs' colourful intellectual history rescues Humboldt from obscurity, and reveals the impact of a single European on both American thought and the environmental movement.

Aaron Sachs traces Humboldt's legacy by focusing not only on the man himself but on the lives of other remarkable individuals who took their lead from him - explorers of the American mid-West, alienated Romantics, seminal American writers and artists, who together laid the groundwork for the great ecological tradition in 19th century America.

About the Author

Aaron Sachs is Assistant Professor of Intellectual History at Cornell University.