Dec. 11, 2020 5:51 pm ET
The history seems barely credible. A Prussian aristocrat, born in 1769, works for five years as a mine inspector. After his motherâs death, he uses a good chunk of the family fortune on a five-year expedition through the primeval forests and uncharted waterways of South America and Mexico. On his way home, in 1804, he spends a scant six weeks in the United States. But by virtue of his American contacts, his German and French writing, his research and his generosity of spirit, Alexander von Humboldt inspires a century of American writers, artists, explorers and scientists, championing Americaâs exceptionalism while also assessing its flaws.