Exploration for the sake of understanding objects, specifically for scientific purposes, fueled the past’s interest in mountains. The Mountain describes how from the Enlightenment period to the present, the desire to make sense of an entity has taken over the minds of not only individuals on their quest for fulfillment but entire scientific communities. All parties invested in the investigation of mountains were interested creating a definition for “mountain” and classifying all the implications that were associated in multiple spheres. The presence of the mountain is felt within the historical, geographical, political, and even psychological spheres. Some of the accounts of mountaineers in Fallen Giants capture the effects the mountain causes through its existence.
As mentioned in previous readings, Imperial Eyes, historically people who reside in mountainous regions regard the mountains as everyday scenery. This idea seems relative to the idea that to those who have never looked upon anything that the world would call a mountain today, would call their hills “mountains”. Ultimately the manner in which mountains are viewed depends on the position of those viewing (Debarbieux and Rudaz, p. 14). However, language and the way an object, such as a mountain is described is an insight to a person or a culture’s experience. Based on one’s experience, people consider their experience to be the “highest” experience one can see or feel, until they are shown otherwise.
Entering into the Enlightenment period, those heavily invested in natural history and geography started viewing mountains as comparison tools for other physical objects, using the understanding that mountains were to be used as “objective” objects (Debarbieux and Rudaz, p 15). Mountains were to be thought of as an objective entity before being personified. However over time with the increasing numbers of expeditions, mountains became more humanized (Isserman and Weaver, p. 82). George Mallory expressed a deep determination to conquer the mountain, as if it was a human entity to be defeated, which is not uncommon among mountaineers. According to The Mountain, mountaineers faced two types of determination: one type fueled by nature, physical and mental, and the other as social and historical forces pushing its third party agenda (Debarbieux and Rudaz, p. 33).
The historical and social forces as driving forces behind a mountaineer’s motivation were in large part due to the increase in scientific importance of geography at the time. There were three different types of geography that contributed to societies emerging interest in mountains as important entities. These types of geography were natural or physical geography, historical, and political geography (Debarbieux and Rudaz, p. 18). At the time of the Royal Geographical Society’s expeditions, there were a few expedition team members who were tasked with gathering data to aid in the increasing knowledge of natural geography as well as a better understanding of science in a new environment (Isserman and Weaver, p. 85 ). The idea that scientists would go out into their field to pursue hands-on research is exactly what Nicolas Demarets urged scholars to do. His advice to other European scholars lead to the expansion of scientific knowledge about mountain (high elevation) environments as well as the discovery of more mountains (Debarbieux and Rudaz, p. 21).
The justification of expeditions to unknown, terrifying places by means of scientific exploration seemed to aid to Europe’s Enlightenment period much more than one would typically learn in the average history class. Also the idea that mountains have such impacts on the natural, historical, and political geography makes a single object seem so powerful. The profound effects that mountains have on people and cultures questions whether or not there is a divine association.