Written in 2005 by the German author Daniel Kehlman, Measuring the World was not
Measuring the World
translated into English until 2006, meaning that English language readers were unable to appreciate this fine piece of writing until late that year.
Measuring the world is a partly fictional, mostly imaginary, look at the lives of German mathematician Carl Gauss, German geographer and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859) and Frenchman Aimé Bonpland (1773 – 1858). Gauss (1777 – 1855), the extraordinarily gifted mathematician and physicist, rarely traveled far from his home but made some of the biggest theoretical discoveries of his era. He was known as the Prince of Mathematics.
Alexander von Humboldt was the man raised to be a scientist and explorer and was brother of Prussian minister Wilhelm von Humboldt. Aimé Bonpland was the French naturalist and botanist who accompanied Humboldt on his five year exploration of Latin America and it is this vast journey which occupies most of the novel. Their comprehensive studies and data from this immense journey laid the foundation for the study of physical geography.
Measuring the World is about more than a journey though; it is a very funny travelogue which looks deep into the flawed characters of our protagonists; Gauss is the sociopath who regards everyone else (especially his son) as slow and dim-witted, Humboldt is the scientist so devoted to his work he fails to understand the real lives of those around him and Bonpland is the long-suffering companion, whose health deteriorates as the journey eats up the years.
There’s more to the book of course; we relive the childhoods of Gauss and Humboldt, accompany Humboldt on his later trip across Russia and witness their eventually meeting as elderly men. For me, the overriding theme of the book is the unimplied question of whether Gauss or Humboldt has traveled further. Humboldt has been around the world and visited many unexplored countries but Gauss, just by working in his study, has uncovered mathematical truths, the secrets of navigation and the paths of planets. In the end, Humboldt wonders if it is Gauss who has achieved the most.