Horace-Bénédict De Saussure’s Quest for Mont Blanc

Abstract

This chapter recounts the late eighteenth century to trace the steps of Conrad Gessner, the Swiss naturalist who is widely credited as the father of Alpinism. It analyzes Horace-Bénédict de Saussure's “Voyages dans les Alpes” that delineated scientific observations and ecstatic descriptions of Saussure's travels. It also explores Saussure's creation of an entirely new model of depicting a mountain's summit perspective, introduction of influential observations on glaciers and glacial movement, and obsession with climbing Mont Blanc. The chapter talks about how Alexander von Humboldt referenced Saussure in his own publications and credited Saussure's accomplishment whenever possible. It also mentions Swiss geologist and zoologist Louis Agassiz, who was among the first to publicly suggest that glaciers covered large parts of the earth during an “ice age.”