Measuring the World

About “Measuring the World”

Daniel Kehlmann's Measuring the World is a novel that follows two brilliant men of the Enlightenment: Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian explorer who travels the world to measure it, and Carl Friedrich Gauss, a mathematician who discovers the curvature of space without leaving his home. Humboldt braves jungles and mountains, while Gauss solves complex equations in his head. Though vastly different in their approaches, both men are celebrated as geniuses—Humboldt as the "Second Columbus" and Gauss as the greatest mathematical mind since Newton. In 1828, they meet in Berlin, where they become involved in the political unrest following Napoleon's defeat. The novel, a best seller in Germany, introduces a talented new voice in literature.