Poetic Science and Competitive Vigor

This chapter looks at Edward Whymper's best-selling “Scrambles Amongst the Alps” in 1871. It reveals how Whymper's book is unmistakably shaped by Alexander von Humboldt's discourse, prefaced by literary quotes, and brimmed with references to Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, James David Forbes, Louis Agassiz, and Leslie Stephen. It also emphasizes Whymper's engagement to nineteenth-century traditions while pointing ahead to the nationally tinged race for first ascents in the twentieth century. The chapter mentions Irish physicist John Tyndall, Whymper's contemporary and rival, who climbed with competitive vigor but praised challenges in the mountains as mental and physical recovery from his work in London. It examines Tyndall's writings that shaped the representation and consumption of mountaineering by imbuing the sport with a spiritual dimension.