Cosmos: Volume 2: Sketch Of A Physical Description Of The Universe (cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences)

Polymath Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), a self-described 'scientific traveller', was one of the most respected scientists of his time. Humboldt's wanderlust led him across Europe and to South America, Mexico, the U.S. and Russia, and his voyages and observations resulted in the discovery of many species previously unknown to Europeans. Originating as lectures delivered in Berlin and Paris (1827-1828), his two-volume Cosmos: Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe (1845-1860) represented the culmination of his lifelong interest in understanding the physical world. As Humboldt writes, 'I ever desired to discern physical phenomena in their widest mutual connection, and to comprehend Nature as a whole, animated and moved by inward forces'. Volume 2 (1848) reviews poetic descriptions of nature as well as landscape painting from antiquity through to modernity, before using the same time-span to examine a 'History of the Physical Contemplation of the Universe'. Polymath Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), a self-described 'scientific traveller', was one of the most respected scientists of his time. Humboldt's wanderlust led him across Europe and to South America, Mexico, the U.S., and Russia, and his voyages and observations resulted in the discovery of many species previously unknown to Europeans. Originating as lectures delivered in Berlin and Paris (1827-1828), his multi-volume Cosmos: Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe (1845-1860) represented the culmination of his lifelong interest in understanding the physical world. As Humboldt writes, 'I ever desired to discern physical phenomena in their widest mutual connection, and to comprehend Nature as a whole, animated and moved by inward forces.' Volume 1 (1846) investigates celestial and terrestrial phenomena, from nebulae to the temperature of the earth, as well as 'organic life'. Throughout, he stresses the method of, and limits to, describing the universe's physical nature Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 EDITOR'S PREFACE......Page 8 TO HIS MAJESTY......Page 12 Contents......Page 14 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE......Page 18 COSMOS......Page 26 On the different degrees of enjoyment offered by the aspect of Nature and the study of her laws......Page 28 Limits and method of exposition of the Physical description of the universe......Page 67 GENERAL VIEW OF NATURE......Page 92 NOTES......Page 384 Cover 1 Frontmatter 2 EDITOR'S PREFACE 8 TO HIS MAJESTY 12 Contents 14 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 18 COSMOS 26 INTRODUCTION 28 On the different degrees of enjoyment offered by the aspect of Nature and the study of her laws 28 Limits and method of exposition of the Physical description of the universe 67 GENERAL VIEW OF NATURE 92 NOTES 384 9781108013642 Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences Von Humboldt's two-volume study represents a significant and important contribution to the general understanding of the physical world in the nineteenth century. Volume 2, demonstrating Humboldt's interest in representations of the natural world, examines poetic descriptions of nature, landscape painting, and how the physical universe was comprehended through history.