Daniel Kehlmann · 2005 · overland

Daniel Kehlmann's 2005 novel weaves together two great German minds of the Enlightenment: the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, who measured the world without leaving home, and the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, who measured it by going everywhere. This route traces Humboldt's five-year expedition through the Americas with Aime Bonpland, from 1799 to 1804: up the Orinoco, over the Andes, up Chimborazo, and on through Mexico, a journey that remade the natural sciences.

1. 1
   Cumana

   Humboldt and Bonpland make landfall in the New World, instruments in hand to measure everything.

2. 2
   Caracas

   West along the coast to Caracas.

3. 3
   The Orinoco

   Up the Orinoco into the interior, proving that the Casiquiare channel joins it to the Amazon.

4. 4
   Havana

   Back to the coast and by sea to Havana.

5. 5
   Cartagena

   And across to Cartagena on the mainland.

6. 6
   Bogota

   Up the Magdalena River to Bogota.

7. 7
   Quito

   Over the Andes to Quito.

8. 8
   Chimborazo

   And the ascent of Chimborazo, then thought the highest mountain on earth, to a record altitude.

9. 9
   Lima

   South to Lima, to observe the transit of Mercury.

10. 10
    Acapulco

    By sea up the Pacific coast to New Spain.

11. 11
    Mexico City

    And inland to Mexico City, before sailing on to the United States and home to Europe.