In 1760, the 28-year-old Mutisáunewly appointed as the personal physician of the Viceroy of the New Kingdom of Granadaáuembarked on a 48-year exploration of the natural world of northern South America. His thirst for knowledge led Mutis to study the region's flora, become a prof…
Full-color and black-and-white photographs, illustrations, and maps describe the history and exploration of the Pacific regions, covering early Pacific navigation, culture and art of the people, and famous explorers who helped to colonized the various islands.
"In this first modern synthesis of data from the Chumash heartland, Lynn H. Gamble weaves multiple sources of evidence to re-create the rich tapestry of Chumash society. Drawing from archaeology, historical documents, ethnography, and ecology, she describes daily life in the lar…
"The path to a broader mode of cosmic observation was blazed by a cadre of nineteenth-century amateur astronomers and inventors, galvanized by the advent of photography, spectral analysis, and innovative technology to create the entirely new field of astrophysics. From William B…
The challenge of opening Africa and Australia to British imperial influence fell to a coterie of proto professional explorers who sought knowledge, adventure, and fame but often experienced confusion, fear, and failure. The Last Blank Spaces follows the arc of these explorations…
For a British Empire that stretched across much of the globe at the start of the nineteenth century, the interiors of Africa and Australia remained intriguing mysteries. The challenge of opening these continents to imperial influence fell to a proto-professional coterie of deter…
Prior histories of the first Spanish mariners to circumnavigate the globe in the sixteenth century have focused on Ferdinand Magellan and the other illustrious leaders of these daring expeditions. Harry Kelsey's masterfully researched study is the first to concentrate on the hit…
The travel narratives listed here encompass all aspects of the natural world in every part of the globe, but are especially concerned with its fauna, flora and fossil remains. Such eyewitness accounts have always fascinated their readers, but they were never written solely for e…
