Gerard HelferichKirja-arvosteluja

Enjoyable survey of Humboldt’s life, with the primary focus being on his travels in America. A bit more revealing of the influences on his political ideals than some of the other ones I’ve read.

Alexander Von Humboldt was famous for his five-year expedition to Latin America, where he and his traveling companions endured and persevered over the many challenges offered by its natural extremes. From insect-riddled rainforest jungles with their lethal animals and dangerous rapids to the frigid mountainsides of active volcanoes, Humboldt studied every aspect of the natural world presented there. Then for the next half-century, he published a vast compendium of works analyzing his findings for use by the next cadre of scientists who clarified and expanded upon his extensive success. Gerard Helferich does a phenomenal job in “HUMBOLDT’S Cosmos”, presenting Humboldt’s dedication to his work, the complexity of the man, and his worth in advancing a broad range of scientific endeavors. Recommended reading for lovers of science or high adventure.

Published in time for the bicentennial of the expedition’s completion in May 1804, Humboldt’s Cosmos is a dramatic tribute to one of history’s most audacious adventurers, whom Stephen Jay Gould noted “may well have been the world’s most famous and influential intellectual."

Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin: Madness, Vengeance, and the Campaign of 1912 is an amazingly well written and researched book. I have read about President Roosevelt and read his famous book The Rough Riders. I am very familiar with his early life as invalid and his urge to be a man in the west. But this is a chapter in his left that I knew zilch about.

Theodore Roosevelt was a larger than life character, who I would have loved to meet if I had lived in his times. This book brings out his unique personality with all its flaws and brilliance. From this book, I also formed a picture of his assailant, the loner, John Flamming Schrank. He spent a great deal of his time reading newspapers that had a political bent and drinking in bars. John Schrank thought of TR as being a power mad villain who wants to be King. A man who thought shooting TR would be good for the country and that people would eventually thank him.

At first, I thought that this book would be mostly about the man who tied to kill TR but it was a much more in depth picture. The author sets you back in history and the places that the men were. It is also gives you a detailed but succinct history of the four men who ran in this unusual presidential race and why they ran.

The research makes us vividly aware of John Schrank's disturbing dream of President Mckinley rising from his coffin and directing Mr. Schrank to kill TR. We learn about President Theodore Roosevelt's reaction to being shot, how bad it was and the effect on his family. We learn about the rift between President Taft and him and about the Eugene V, Debbs of the Socialist Party, We learn about President Woodrow Wilson.
This book was better than I expected besides the tremendous amount of research about the assassin and the people running for election, we also have insight into their personalities.

I highly recommend this book to all people interested in United States history and especially President Theodore Roosevelt.

I received this book as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings in this review.

This is a book about the search for the source of jade for the Maya and Toltec peoples, not about any specific treasure. It gives a solid effort at explaining the value of jade to the Maya and some basic history of their stonework. Unfortunately the color photos that would cause people to admire it most are not included, instead you get just a few black and white photos (mostly of the people involved). The book quickly gets to the more recent history of exploration and occasionally almost seems like a promotional pamphlet for the entrepreneurs who decided to revitalize the working of jade in Guatemala. This is not to say it isn't interesting but not exactly what I was hoping for.

Between 1799 and 1804, Alexander von Humboldt traveled six-thousand miles through what are now Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Cuba. Accompanied by physician/zoologist/illustrator Aimé Bonpland, Humboldt measured the heights of active volcanoes, collected specimens of rare plants and exotic animal species, and introduced Americans and Europeans to the Aztecs and Incas. Upon his return to Berlin, he had accumulated enough data, materials and experience to publish seven volumes on the geography, politics, culture and ‘monuments’ of Latin America. Admired by Jefferson, Goethe, Darwin, Emerson and Simón Bolívar, Humboldt was instrumental in shaping the scientific world view—and the Europeans’ view of the world, literally. Humboldt’s magnum opus, Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, was lavishly illustrated with detailed plates depicting natural and manmade landscapes and scenes from the lives of vanishing civilizations.

Gerard Helferich traces the journey of Humboldt and Bonpland and succeeds in conveying the sense of high adventure and intellectual curiosity that drove the pair. We get derring-do, the excitement of discovery, lousy weather, narrow escapes, and a first-hand look at the expanding boundaries of knowledge, when the New World was still New, and Science was still Wondering.