Measuring the World (original: 2005; edição: 2007)

It's been years since I last read more than a handful of German books; the last few years barely one per year. So I "promised" myself to do a bit better in 2021.

'Die Vermessung der Welt' caught my interest because it focused on two historic scientists: Carl Friedrich Gauss (Wikipedia) and Alexander von Humboldt (Wikipedia). My knowledge of these two people is close to nihil, although I had heard of them, albeit not in school, as far as I remember.

A few years ago, the book proved to be a little too difficult for my level of German. Linguistic knowledge must be maintained, that's a fact. Having read the story now, I'm surprised at how fluently it reads (well, I read, the book can't read itself, can it?). However, you do need a large enough understanding of the German language. Basic knowledge won't do.

Only 302 pages to read... let's sliiiiide through it. Uh, no, not at all. The chapters are episodic, in that the focus shifts per chapter: one about Gauss, the next about von Humboldt, then Gauss, then von Humboldt, ... Of course, in a few chapters, both characters do meet and exchange views and opinions, if they're not writing letters to each other. As the chapters are also relatively short, a lot is not told, it's up to the reader to fill in the gaps or to even "see"/understand who the secondary characters were, which role they played in Gauss's and von Humboldt's lives.

It's not a real historic account of these scientists' endeavours, more like a uchronia, I'd say. However the setup, Daniel Kehlmann wrote their stories in a way that you would feel sympathy for these men, as they were very devoted to their work, their lives' works: exploring, discovering and measuring. Gathering of knowledge (except that von Humboldt met a Buddhist monk who told him: What do you really know? Can you resurrect my dead dog?). Contributing to a better world.

Both men had their troubles, be it in love (relationships) or whilst doing the exploring (be it natural boundaries, financial boundaries, or political boundaries, where everything is arranged and organised for them, especially in von Humboldt's case). They were also very dedicated to the cause, work before pleasure, and certainly not the more "plain" events like parties and gatherings.

'Die Vermessung der Welt' (Wikipedia) offers a glimpse of Gauss's and von Humbodt's lives, their discoveries, their efforts, their inventions, ... and is therefore an excellent, fictional introduction to read more about them. Mind you, physics, mathematics, ... were never my cup of tea in school, but learning through fiction and then non-fiction, without obligations and exams, makes it all the more interesting.

Despite its "faults" (which aren't all that insurmountable, if that word can be used here), this novel has brought me much joy and sparked my interest to see the world in a different way, or rather, continue to see the beauty of nature in different ways. ( )

Finished it, finally. Ugh. Magical realism as applied to science, and Germany. I have a vague idea what happened for most of it, I have no idea why, or why people said what they did, or what the point of the book was. I don't see how it's a comic novel, either, unless you enjoy laughing at obsessed people who can't handle society. Two scientists - I thought one was considerably older than the other, but by the end of the book they're apparently the same age. One is somewhat obsessive-compulsive - he explores vast areas of the world almost inch by inch, calculating the "true" location, elevation, etc of every stop. The other stays home and thinks about mathematics, and makes great discoveries that don't make any difference. After a while, they both start to hate dealing with people and do their best to avoid it. They also seem to start to blend in to one another, at the end. Eugen, once he's out from under his father's thumb, might be an interesting character or might go the same compulsive way as the other two - but all we get of him is one chapter at the end. I'm sorry I read it and I'll be more careful about picking books in the future. Yuck. The book I was actually looking for was The Measure Of All Things - going to read that now and wash this out of my brain. ( )

Not what I expected. ( )

overrated. ( )

Verden, 1800-1850
Indeholder kapitlerne "Rejsen", "Havet", "Læreren", "Hulen", "Tallene", "Floden", "Stjernerne", "Bjerget", "Haven", "Hovedstaden", "Sønnen", "Faderen", "Æteren", "Ånderne", "Steppen", "Træet".

"Rejsen" handler om at Alexander von Humboldt i september 1828 har fået overtalt Gauss til at tage med til Den tyske Naturforskerkongres i Berlin.
"Havet" handler om ???
"Læreren" handler om ???
"Hulen" handler om ???
"Tallene" handler om ???
"Floden" handler om ???
"Stjernerne" handler om ???
"Bjerget" handler om ???
"Haven" handler om ???
"Hovedstaden" handler om ???
"Sønnen" handler om ???
"Faderen" handler om ???
"Æteren" handler om ???
"Ånderne" handler om ???
"Steppen" handler om ???
"Træet" handler om ???

En fiktiv historie som baggrund for en diskussion af noget fiktivt. ( )