While there is no definitive way to determine if the Prussian polymath Alexander von Humbolt was truly the “last person who knew everything,” it is an appellation that has been justifiably used in reference to him sufficiently often to secure him a place in the finals of such a contest. Natural and moral philosopher, geographer, […]
As large as they loom over the landscape, how much thought do most of us really give to mountains? They cover between six to twelve percent (depending on how you calculate it) of the planet’s exposed landscape. They hold the origins of all the planet’s rivers. And, in this age of global climate change, they will be one of the geographic locations most dramatically affected – and as a result transmitting those effects upon all other systems they touch.