Essay on the Geography of Plants

  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 Aim? Bonpland set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, especially Darwin’s travels to South America, 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. The edition also includes a poster-sized color reproduction of the Mt. Chimborazo tableau, an icon in the history of science and scientific graphics. Here, ecologist Stephen T. Jackson introduces the treatise and explains its enduring significance two centuries after its publication. He also provides materials on the instruments used by Humboldt and biographical sketches of the persons mentioned in the Essay. Sylvie Romanowski, a scholar of eighteenth-century literature, provides a detailed analysis of the Mt. Chimborazo plate from the perspectives of literary history, history of science, and art in the period.