Essay on the geography of plants / Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland ; edited with an introduction by Stephen T. Jackson ; translated by Sylvie Romanowski.

  • Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859
Date:
2013
  • Books

About this work

Also known as

Essai sur la géographie des plantes. English

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 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. The cloth edition also includes a poster-sized color reproduction of the Mt. Chimborazo tableau, an icon in the history of science and scientific graphics.

Publication/Creation

Chicago, Illinois : The University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Physical description

xx, 274 pages : illustrations (black and white, and colour) ; 23 cm

Notes

This translation originally published: 2009.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references.

Contents

Essay on the geography of plants / Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland; translated by Sylvie Romanowski -- Text of Humboldt's Tableau physique / translated by Sylvie Romanowski -- Humboldt's pictorial science: an analysis of the Tableau physique des Andes et pays voisins / Sylvie Romanowski -- Plant species cited in Humboldt's Essay and Tableau physique / Stephen T. Jackson -- Instruments utilized in developing the Tableau physique / Stephen T. Jackson -- Biographical sketches / Stephen T. Jackson -- Bibliographical essay and bibliography / Stephen T. Jackson.

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    AQV /HUM
    Open shelves

Permanent link

Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780226054735
  • 022605473X
  • 9780226360683
  • 0226360687