The incalculable influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769?1859) on biology, botany, geology, and meteorology deservedly earned him the reputation as the world's most illustrious scientist before Charles Darwin. Humboldt's breath-taking explorations of Mexico and South America from 1799 to 1804 are akin to Europe's second ?discovery? of the New World ? this time, a scientific one. His Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain is a foundational document...