"Measuring the World" was adapted into a movie in Germany in 2012 In a few days, said Eugen, this would be a metropolis like Rome, Paris or St. The first splendid buildings were beginning to go up: a cathedral, some palaces, a museum to house the finds from Humboldt's great expedition. Thousands of little houses in a chaotic sprawl, a settlement overflowing its banks in the swampiest spot in Europe. "They reached Berlin the next day in the late afternoon. When grumpy Gauss, with his 17-year-old son Eugen in tow, arrives at the Prussian capital Berlin, Kehlmann sums up the experience: Gauss, however, is a rather simple man with a provincial way of looking at things, who hates the idea of travel and prefers to grasp the inner dealings of the world while sitting at his desk.ĭespite being so different from each other, the two geniuses eventually find common ground by complementing each other's knowledge.īoth scientists are oddballs in their own rights with peculiar views. Humboldt comes from an aristocratic family, enjoyed a classical education, and distinguishes himself in his compulsion for traveling the world. The reader learns that the two protagonists are complete opposites. What distinguishes Kehlmann are quickness of mind and lightness of touch.Alexander von Humboldt is one of the most famous scientists in German history 'Elegant and measured in design and expression. 'Kehlmann's lightly surreal style a mixture of comedy, romance and the macabre, with flashes of magical realism that read like Borges in the Black Forest.' - Washington Post Book World Addictively readable and genuinely and deeply funny.' - Los Angeles Times 'A masterfully realized, wonderfully entertaining and deeply satisfying novel. 'Steeped in German classicism and set against the topsy-turvy politics of the Napoleonic wars, this is a wonderfully entertaining depiction of an era, but, more importantly, a warm, playful portrait of two delightfully improbable men. suffuses Kehlmann's heady historical novel, which may especially delight science-fiction connoisseurs.' - Booklist The uncomfortable humor of being, in Gauss' case, too brilliant. which keenly complements Kehlmann's intelligent, if not especially deep, treatment of science, mathematics and reason at the end of the Enlightenment.' - Publishers Weekly 'The narrative is notable for its brisk pacing, lively prose and wry humor.
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