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Measuring the World

By Daniel Kehlmann
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
At the close of the eighteenth century, two brilliant and eccentric scientists embark on the quest to measure the world. Alexander von Humboldt ventures across oceans and jungles, encountering extraordinary adventures, while Carl Friedrich Gauss remains at home, exploring the mysteries of mathematics and discovering the curvature of space. Measuring the World vividly brings these two geniuses to life, exploring their contrasting journeys and internal struggles between loneliness and love, absurdity and greatness, failure and success.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This engaging novel is ideal for readers interested in historical fiction, science, and biography, as well as those who appreciate witty, character-driven narratives exploring the human side of brilliance.

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At the end of the eighteenth century, two brilliant and eccentric young scientists set out to measure the world.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

At the end of the eighteenth century, two brilliant and eccentric young scientists set out to measure the world.

Alexander von Humboldt swashbuckled his way across the globe: navigating ocean and jungle, eating with cannibals, swimming with electric eels, lowering himself into volcanoes and scaling the highest mountain known to man.

Carl Friedrich Gauss, on the other hand, stayed at home, using the power of thought to battle his way into exotic mathematical realms and the landmark realisation that space is curved.

Measuring the World brings these two geniuses to life, capturing their balancing act between loneliness and love, absurdity and greatness, failure and success.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Measuring the World has been a literary sensation, selling over 600,000 copies in Germany and knocking major international bestsellers off the charts. Critics praise Daniel Kehlmann as a literary wunderkind, comparing him to Nabokov and Proust (Guardian). The novel is celebrated for its boundless optimism, wit, and warmth, skillfully combining humour and fascinating historical anecdotes to create a moving and hilarious tribute to genius (Publishing News, The Good Book Guide, Time Out).

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781847241146

Publisher: Quercus Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 October 2007

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Quercus Publishing

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 199.0mm

Weight: 238g

Pages: 272

Collections

Daniel Kehlmann Fiction Fiction in Translation General Fiction Literary Fiction

About the Author

Daniel Kehlmann was born in Munich in 1975 and moved to Vienna in 1981, where he studied philosophy and literature at university. Measuring the World is his fifth novel.

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