Ester Nelly Abuter Ananías - Fachbereich Philosophie und ...

Sandra Rebok ( Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales-csic, Madrid, Spain )
Th e Scientifi c Exploration of the United States. German Travellers during the
19th century
Besides numerous publications with personal experiences of immigrants, guidebooks
for those who were interested in emigration, travel novels or travel guides, German
travellers who visited diff erent regions of the us in the 19th century also published a
considerable number of scientifi c studies and regional descriptions. Th is contribution
aims to provide an overview about the interest in the natural sciences off ered by
the partially unexplored nature of these territories of the New World as well as
diff erent scientifi c approaches to the social, political, economic or religious life of the
American nation. General tendencies of these studies will be presented as well as the
chronological development and the regional diff erences regarding their predominant
interests. Additionally, the work of some authors will be analyzed in order to give
examples for specifi c types of scientifi c exploration. Th e image these travellers created
about the young American nation and promoted through their writings will also be
of interest. Among other issues, the particular focus will be on the concrete aspects
of the American reality that raised the att ention of the travellers and the evolution of
this image over time. Finally, we will examine how the ideological and philosophical
perspective of these German scientists is refl ected in their writings on the United
States.
Email sarebok@gmx.net
Section Travel and Science : Measuring, Collecting, Imagining the World
Panel 24
Date July 28
Time 16 :45
Location k l 29/111