The Alpine Enlightenment: Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and Nature’a Sensorium Unavailable

Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–1790), great-grandfather of the linguist and semiotician Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), was a Swiss physicist, geologist, inventor, and early Alpine explorer known for his more than 30 years of geologic studies, including experiments on the origin of granite. He is also known for his invention of instruments such as the electrometer, used to measure electric potential, and hygrometer, used to measure atmospheric humidity. A professor of physics and philosophy at the Academy of Geneva from 1762 to 1786, he authored Voyages dans les Alpes, précédés d’un essai sur l’histoire naturelle des environs de Geneve (Voyages in the Alps, preceded by an essay on the natural history of the environs of Geneva), an account of his researches and climbs in the upper ranges of the Alps, published in four volumes from 1779 to 1796. Long admired as a record of his numerous explorations throughout the Chamonix valley and...