A Natural Scientist Squee Community

Title: Roads Diverged
Author: des_puidels_ker
Fandom: Aire Libre & Aubreyad
Pairing, Characters: Stephen Maturin, Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland, Jack Aubrey
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Master and Commander
Disclaimer: Any characters mentioned here belong to their respective creators; the names of any real people mentioned refer to fictionalised versions of these people. No money is made and no offense intended.
Length: 4x100 words
Author's Note: For esteven, who asked for Jack& Stephen meeting Alexander/Aimé. I could not get all four of them together, even though for some strange and mysterious reason A&A set sail not from La Coruña but from Port Mahon, and Jack is not in Ushant but already in Port Mahon. And in case you are wondering, Bonpland calls Humboldt by the French version of his name, 'Alexandre', while Humboldt himself of course uses the German 'Alexander'.


Follow the fake cut for the drabbles.

Crossposted to perfect_duet.

This is part 2 of excerpts of letters from Alexander von Humboldt to Aimé Bonpland from Correspondence, and they make for most interesting reading. As in my previous post I tried to translate to the best of my abilities with seascribe having been a wonderful help.

If you have any translation suggestions, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

( Je viens de recevoir votre longue et intéressante lettre du 21 mars avec le…Elle m’a causé le plaisir le plus sensibleCollapse )

Several weeks ago I promised des_pudels_kern to post excerpts of letters from Alexander von Humboldt to Aimé Bonpland. They are printed in Correspondance and make for most interesting reading, not only those cute bits I tried to translate to the best of my abilities. After all English is my second, French only my third language. seascribe was a wonderful help.

If you have any translation suggestions, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

( May you never miss out on anything. I would rather love that you miss meCollapse )

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Sorry, but it is likely this comm will be spammed several times in the next weeks with details about Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Having found several biographies of Bonpland and a small collection of letters between him and von Humboldt, I felt like sharing with you.

First I came across René Bouvier und Eduard Maynial, Aimé Bonpland(1773 – 1858), 1950 German title: Der Botanist von Malmaison (I have been unable to trace an English translation).

The book starts after Bonpland’s and von Humboldt’s return from South America and is written more like a novel than a biography. Obviously it cannot fail but mention the relationship with Humboldt, cannot but show that after 1816 those two became like ships passing in the night: in contact but without the chance of ever seeing each other face to face again.

For that book I found one review. ( Obviously M Febvre did not take to itCollapse ) Still it reads well. *g*

There is also A Life in Shadow: Aimé Bonpland in South America by Stephen Bell.

It treats the southern South American career of the French naturalist Aimé-Jaques-Alexandre Goujaud-Bonpland, better known simply as Aimé Bonpland. Its main purposes are to clarify the post-1817 South American achievements of his life and to set aside some of the sense of disappointment and confusion that has built around him since his death. In the nineteenth century, Bonpland was famous Indeed, I found the book’s introduction interesting because it addresses the relationship between Humboldt and Bonpland, pointing out how it is abundantly clear in Humboldt’s letters that he was delighted with Bonpland’s knowledge, courage and enthusiasm, that Humboldt worked to enhance his companion’s reputation in France.

The Swedish frigate which was to convey M. Skioldebrand to Algiers, was expected at Marseilles toward the end of October. M. Bonpland and myself repaired thither with great celerity, for during our journey we were tormented with the fear of being too late, and missing our passage.

If only I knew who this excerpt reminds me of. ;D Maybe of the particular friend of a certain post-captain, RN? I like it when fandoms and RL cross.


PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICA
DURING THE YEARS 1799-1804 Vol 1 BY ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT AND AIME BONPLAND.

Find all three volumes here.

Bless the project gutenberg!

I was listening to Radio National yesterday and they had an interesting little segment on a re-creation of the Beagle's voyage by a Dutch group. If you are interested in listening, click on Beagle voyage retraced. The voyage is being filmed for Dutch and German television and will be screened in a 30-episode(??) documentary series.

There is also a link on that page to the ship's website which is mostly in Dutch where you can follow the progress of the ship and see the view from the bridge via its webcams. I found it confusing and had no idea how to access the webcam, perhaps one of you can work it out.

It's 5:30 am and I can't sleep, so I was channel surfing and landed on a show on national geographic about Darwin called Darwin's Secret Notebooks. The show's website has lots of fun info (and cute tortoise illustrations) so I thought I'd share: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/darwin-s-secret-notebooks-3864/Overview#tab-Overview.

This book has recently turned up at work, and I thought as it is potentially of interest I would give it a heads-up here;

Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society by Bill Bryson (Ed. & Foreword)


Amazon Description:

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from 1660 to the present. On a damp weeknight in November, 350 years ago, a dozen or so men gathered at Gresham College in London. A twenty-eight year old -- and not widely famous -- Christopher Wren was giving a lecture on astronomy. As his audience listened to him speak, they decided that it would be a good idea to create a Society to promote the accumulation of useful knowledge. With that, the Royal Society was born. Since its birth, the Royal Society has pioneered scientific exploration and discovery. Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, John Locke, Alexander Fleming -- all were fellows. Bill Bryson's favourite fellow was Reverend Thomas Bayes, a brilliant mathematician who devised Bayes' theorem. Its complexity meant that it had little practical use in Bayes' own lifetime, but today his theorem is used for weather forecasting, astrophysics and stock market analysis. A milestone in mathematical history, it only exists because the Royal Society decided to preserve it -- just in case. The Royal Society continues to do today what it set out to do all those years ago. Its members have split the atom, discovered the double helix, the electron, the computer and the World Wide Web. Truly international in its outlook, it has created modern science. 'Seeing Further' celebrates its momentous history and achievements, bringing together the very best of science writing. Filled with illustrations of treasures from the Society's archives, this is a unique, ground-breaking and beautiful volume, and a suitable reflection of the immense achievements of science.

...and from what I've seen of it at work (which was, admittedly, quite a lot) it looks like a worthwhile investment; but then I am potentially biased, as it is my opinion that any book Richard Holmes and Bill Bryson put their names to is going to be a good book. :)

My family and I recently took a trip to Washington DC, and when I saw this painting in the National Gallery of Art I knew I had to share it here. He's not officially a naturalist, just the artist's brother with his beloved potted geranium, but I think this man clearly had some interest in the natural world. Sorry for the crappy photo quality, I tried to fix it up a little in photoshop.

Title: Constellation
Pairing, Characters: Aimé Bonpland, Alexander von Humboldt (preslash), Pedro Montanar, Villahermosa (at least I think that man was him)
Rating: PG (someone gets hit on the head and bleeds, and there's a wee tiny bit of lusting)
Spoilers: Well, the movie.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never has been, never will be.
Length: 1754 words (For my standards, a veritable epic!)
Status: Oneshot
Summary: The corona scene, and its aftermath.
Author's Note: Written as a birthday ficlet for my dearest tootsiemuppet. She gave me so many wonderful things, this fandom for example, and draws me art, in this fandom for example, and I love her (I'd even love her without the art). So as to not confuse feroxargentea, who seems to be willing to let this fandom corrupt her, the Villahermosa mentioned here is the husband of Señora Ana from this one.
As always, not beta'd.
Written: December 2009
Crossposted to: My fic journal here.


( ConstellationCollapse )