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The Humboldt Current - by Aaron Sachs (Paperback)
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Highlights
- A masterly and beautifully written account of the impact of Alexander von Humboldt on nineteenth-century American history and culture The naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) achieved unparalleled fame in his own time.
- About the Author: Aaron Sachs is a professor of history and American studies at Cornell University and an award-winning environmental journalist.
- 512 Pages
- Nature, Environmental Conservation & Protection
Description
About the Book
Cornell University history and American studies professor Aaron Sachs offers a masterly intellectual history of the impact of 19th-century explorer Alexander von Humboldt on American culture and science.
Book Synopsis
A masterly and beautifully written account of the impact of Alexander von Humboldt on nineteenth-century American history and culture
The naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) achieved unparalleled fame in his own time. Today, however, he and his enormous legacy to American thought are virtually unknown. In The Humboldt Current, Aaron Sachs traces Humboldt's pervasive influence on American history through examining the work of four explorers--J. N. Reynolds, Clarence King, George Wallace, and John Muir--who embraced Humboldt's idea of a "chain of connection" uniting all peoples and all environments. A skillful blend of narrative and interpretation that also discusses Humboldt's influence on Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Melville, and Poe, The Humboldt Current offers a colorful, passionate, and superbly written reinterpretation of nineteenth-century American history.
Review Quotes
Sachs has done something worthy of gratitude: He has reintroduced a nineteenth- century sage to a generation that sorely needs his wisdom. (Los Angeles Times)
About the Author
Aaron Sachs is a professor of history and American studies at Cornell University and an award-winning environmental journalist. This is his first book.