Saluting an era of adventure and knowledge seeking, fifteen original essays consider the motivations of European explorers of the Pacific, the science and techn

In July 1769 the first Spanish land expedition to explore California set out from San Diego to march to Monterey Bay, but didn't recognize it when they stood on

California has a long, storied past. There was a myth that it was an island. Spanish explorers thought they would find cities paved in gold there. When they did

A masterly and beautifully written account of the impact of Alexander von Humboldt on nineteenth-century American history and culture The naturalist and explore