Details

Subject(s)

• Saussure, Horace Bénédict de 1740-1799 [Browse]
• Scientists—Switzerland—Geneva—Biography [Browse]
• Earth scientists—Switzerland—Geneva—Biography [Browse]
• Mountaineers—Switzerland—Geneva—Biography [Browse]
• Scientific expeditions—Alps—History—18th century [Browse]
• Enlightenment—Switzerland—Geneva [Browse]
• Geneva (Switzerland)—Intellectual life—20th century [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Biographies [Browse]

Series

• Life of ideas [More in this series]
• The life of ideas

Summary note

"In The Alpine Enlightenment, historian Kathleen Kete takes us into the world of the Genevan geologist, physicist, inventor, and mountaineer Horace Bénédict de Saussure. During his prodigious climbs into the upper ranges of the Alps, Saussure focused intensely on the natural phenomena he encountered-glaciers, crevasses, changes in the weather, and shifts in the color of the sky-and he described what he saw and felt with great precision, articulating a view of nature as worthy of respect independently of human needs. Kete uses Saussure's evocative writings, which emphasized above all physical engagement with the earth, to uncover not just how people during the Enlightenment thought about nature, but more importantly how they experienced it. As Kete shows, Saussure thought with and through his body; he harnessed his senses to understand the forces that shaped the world around him, and in so doing, he anticipated present-day concerns about the environment and our place as humans within it"-- Provided by publisher.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• Introduction. Saussure and the Alps
• Geneva : the walled city
• The Jura Mountains
• The Arve Valley
• Bodies of desire
• High peaks : from the Buet to the slopes of Mont Blanc
• Mont Blanc
• The legacy.

Show 5 more Contents items

ISBN

• 9780226835464
• 0226835464
• 9780226835488 ((paperback))
• 0226835480

LCCN

2024013177

OCLC

1429723456

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