Humboldt and the cosmos

list of color plates, acknowledgments, preface, 22 chapters, bibliography, list of monochrome illustrations, index. ``Scientist, explorer and diplomat, Humboldt (1769-1859) was the last truly Universal Man. He left his name on the maps of five continents; over a thousand places in the world are named after him and even on the moon a crater bears his name. In private he was emotional, unflinchingly hardworking, homosexual, gentle and, in later years, pathetically poor. The author has followed Humboldt's routes in South America and Asia. The book is lavishly illustrated with forty pages of full-color illustration and over 130 monochrome pictures. Many of the engravings which illustrated Humboldt's own works are reproduced here, together with other contemporary prints and paintings of the places he visited and the people he met, supplemented where appropriate with modern photographs." from the jacket flap.