Scientific Exploration: Extreme Edition

This week I have been reading The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf’s book on the remarkable polymath Alexander von Humboldt. Thirty years before Charles Darwin’s famed Voyage of the Beagle, Humboldt was trekking his way through the jungles, rivers and mountains of South America. He would visit many other places, scientific instruments in tow, and might be one of the greatest and bravest naturalists in history. Certainly there are more “things” named after him than any other scientist in history.

The breadth of Humboldt’s explorations led him to a unified view of nature – one that was intertwined and deeply interconnected even if on the surface there was much diversity. Reading his ideas of our planet as a holistic organism reminded me of Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock’s still-controversial Gaia hypothesis over 150 years later – a question for our time as the topic of climate change continues to heat up. The writing of Humboldt significantly influenced Darwin, and there are many similarities between Humboldt’s Personal Narrative and Darwin’s diary of his voyage.

Thinking about Darwin and Humboldt reminded me of how I am an armchair scientist. Literally. My work chair has armrests and I spend my time in front of a computer screen. Two actually. In contrast, Humboldt braved crocodiles and mosquitoes rowing up the Orinoco to try and determine if it shared a source with the Amazon river. As he hiked the treacherous Andes, instruments and a menagerie in tow, he tried to climb as many mountains as possible. He almost died multiple times, and when he tackled the mighty peak of Chimborazo, even his guides refused to go as far as he did. What was he trying to do? Take measurements! Humboldt was ever the consummate scientist and explorer, braving sickness and harsh conditions, and traveling treacherous roads.

Are not all scientists explorers in a sense? I’d like to think I explore the inner workings of nature, but I do it from the comfort of my climate-controlled office. I work reasonable hours, and spend my leisure time – well, leisurely. Perhaps I lack the curiosity and drive of a great scientist – one who sees himself or herself as an intrepid explorer striking out into the unknown. It must have been a visceral experience for Humboldt as he encountered nature in its rawness. I, on the other hand, have become tamed by the comforts of suburbia. I’d like to think that I do a good job conveying the excitement of science and discovery to my students, but maybe the lack of the visceral, physical experience brings about certain limitations that I can’t quite grasp. Maybe there's a certain authenticity that only comes with physicality. I’d like to think that my physically being present in the classroom helps, but maybe if you replaced with me with a video stream (albeit an interactive one), it might not make too much of a difference.

The closest I expect to get to walking in Humboldt’s shoes (which often wore out on journeys), well actually Darwin’s shoes, is probably through a boardgame. I’m looking forward to trying out the Voyage of the Beagle expansion to Robinson Crusoe. In the base game, there are several scenarios where you try to survive, explore and thrive on an island after being shipwrecked. I’ve now worked my way through five out of the six. The Beagle expansion is a campaign game that looks very daunting, but I’ll get to collect rare beasts, strange plants, and other artifacts, and if I’m lucky get them back to “civilization” where fame and fortune await. All this from the comfort of my living room! Humboldt must be turning in his grave hearing me utter such blasphemy. I suppose we enjoy different things, Humboldt and I. And that’s okay. I’m very happy being a professor and a computational chemist! When I want my nature fix, I can watch the equivalent of National Geographic.

Maybe I’ll become an armchair polymath, learning little bits about many things. Sort of like Simon Winchester, except that he is widely traveled and has covered important world events as a journalist and writer. I just write a blog based on interesting things that I read (perhaps the only thing I have in common with Bill Gates). Earlier this year I read one of Winchester’s books, The Man Who Loved China, about another polymath Joseph Needham – a biochemist who became both historian and diplomat, traveling in China during a dangerous time and unveiling its mysteries and technological advances to the “West”. In that sense, Needham shares similarities to Humboldt – they were passionate scientists who took on the Extreme Edition of Exploration. Maybe reading about them has awakened a small passion in me to do a bit more travelling. We’ll see, as the semester draws to a close.