Humboldt and Jefferson

April 15, 2014
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Prussian scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) shared a fascination with natural history and geography and an intense desire to learn more about the world, especially the Americas. After a brief meeting in 1804 they exchanged nearly two dozen letters, some very short, over 20 years. Using these correspondences (reproduced in an appendix) as a starting point, Humboldt scholar Rebok offers this narrowly focused study of the relationship between two eminent intellectuals. The author draws on primary and secondary sources in several languages to explore topics discussed in the men's correspondence. The scholarship here is sound, and Rebok's writing avoids the jargon that sometimes plagues academic monographs. General readers are likely to get bogged down in the detailed recounting of Jefferson's and Humboldt's responses to scientific debates of their era, however. VERDICT While several chapters touch on topics of broader interest, such as the men's views on the Haitian Revolution of 1804, this book's appeal will be limited to specialists in intellectual and natural history.--Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

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