The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt

This book is a History of Science in graphic novel form. It is indeed an unusual format. It is not intended to be a replacement for the excellent « Invention of Nature » book by Andrea Wolf. Rather, it seems to be an alternate entry point for non-scientists or novice-scientists and lovers of knowledge to be compelled by an excellent story and illustrated natural history of the Western Scientific Discovery of South America.This graphical book is a way to compel kids and newcomers to love this genre of the history of science. It reads best in print (not digitally). I really enjoyed Wulf’s original novel on Humboldt. My K-8 aged kids really love this format. My two kids compete over who gets to read each page. (!) I am excited to see science communicated in this visually compelling way. I hope that it makes an entryway for more people to grow and love science.I wish that this graphical book had woven in more scientific names in footnotes and that it had woven in factoids — hopefully these will be included in a second edition. **Maybe a few of the original sketches**In short, SCIENCE communication in GRAPHIC NOVEL format— informative, interesting and visually compelling make this graphic novel worth purchase and 5-stars.This book is BIG — it is coffee table sized (larger than a legal-sheet of paper). And it is beautiful. Enjoy.

The Invention of Nature about Humboldt's life and adventures was exciting enough but this book was like watching a movie of Humboldt's South American adventures. The illustrations are magnificent and creative and the text puts you into the adventure. The author is careful to give credit through Humboldt to the indigenous peoples and highlight Humboldt's development of the concept of the interconnectedness of nature as a fabric and not a single genus or species.Thank you to Andrea Wulf and Lillian Melcher and to Pantheon for producing a beautiful and memorable book.

this book was a delight to read. the illustrations and texts are informative in spite the shortness of the texts. However, they grasp the communicate the entire feeling of the specific situations.highly recommend it.After i wrote my review i just looked at the negative reviews already there. I think one can look at this book as an appetizer to read more about Humboldt. At least i learnt a lot from the book. What impressed me most was that he already saw the carelessness we humans deal with nature. we just have no respect and think things are all in abundance but today we know they are not. He figured all this out long ago.

The book has great graphics, interesting topic, and I love the idea of it. I've yet to read it though. And when it arrived, the package looked as if it had been in a tug-of-war battle between an elephant and a wolverine. There was a huge chunk missing out of the corner of the flat little box, and a flap dangling off the side (!!!), which meant a huge munch and crack down the binding of this hardback graphic novel. It was ridiculous that anyone would dare to set that on my front porch looking that way, but it's not the book's fault. Beware what books you buy through Amazon, because if you care what they look like, or are a collector in any sense of the word, you might be thoroughly disappointed when it arrives trashed.

Andrea Wulf and Lillian Melcher have created a true gem in their 2019 Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt -- gorgeous, detailed illustrations and thoughtful, descriptive prose.Certainly not as well known as he should be, if there was ever a 'most interesting man', Alexander Von Humboldt would be among top candidates. His wide-vision curiosity and physical tenacity were amazing! Traipsing into Washington DC from Europe, Humboldt fascinated Jefferson, and was invited to Monticello where the two conversed intently for a couple of weeks.Humboldt's ~ 1815 'Personal Narrative...' of his central and south American explorations is a bit dense. But, as an introduction of the man for the younger set (and admirers of any age) this graphic narrative really brings his explorations to vivid experience.A most impressive accomplishment by Wulf and Melcher; deserves a fond place among your books!

Love it!

A very effective narrative of Humboldt's journeys in the new world. The "comic book" format with excellent illustrations makes the book fun to read and easy to pick up and read a bit at a time. Humboldt was an icon in natural history and ethnography of the peoples of the new world. On the 250th anniversary of his birth, its important to look back at the world nearly three centuries ago as he saw it.

A wonderfully illustrated, easy to read yet richly detailed book about a fascinating scientist, Alexander Von Humboldt, who merits a lot more attention nowadays than he receives. Either this or the more in-depth book "The Invention of Nature" is a must-read for anyone interested in science, the environment, and how we learn about the world around us.

This book bring Humboldt and his journeys to life in a way that a normal book could never achieve. Through the backdrop of actual diary pages, pressed plants, and maps we are taken into Humboldt's 5 year travels made even more vivid with the dialogues and illustrations. I highly recommend this book.

The illustrations of the explorations of Alexander von Humboldt's explorations are truly amazing. And, of course, once again the research by Andrea Wulf with words from Humboldt's diaries are well researched. I expected to get a book to simply read, but now I got one to look and explore. This is very educational for children and teenagers. They will like the cartoons and learn.

Large hardback folio book, first edition.Not a traditional graphic book, but interestingly drawn, engaging pictures and speech bubbles, erudite observations noted by the people in the book, both protagonist and bit player alike.Von Humboldt adventures in South America redrew maps of the time, inspired Darwin's travels and discovered thousands of plants and species.If all history and the sciences were couched in this way perhaps there'd be better results in schools!

Engaging format for a young teen who loves reading and loves comic books. My daughter finds this book fascinating. The illustrations keep her curious. She’s writing her own illustrated book in a similar format after reading it

I enjoy graphic novels, but the narrative of this non-fictional account (which I know to be a really fascinating story) is almost impossible to follow. The placement of text seems almost random, and there's an incredible amount of clutter on most pages without any real context for it. Much of the time you can't identify who's actually speaking. An incredible disappointment.