An echo novel about the life of Humboldt, pragmatic largest explorer of South America and Gauss, mathematician genius but homebody. Each chapter crosses their childhood, their journey, their discoveries, their disappointments. Their diametrically opposed character make their especially tasty adventures. This historical novel is, however, very contemporary and crosses the issues of science, knowledge and power. The story is funny, well written and punctuated with beautiful thoughts. It puts into perspective two radically different modes of thoughts on how to do science, but also the way of living. So the more adventurous is not necessarily the one we think.
A beautiful novel about the discovery and the unknown.
