Daniel Kehlmann: Measuring the World

Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling fifth novel 'Measuring the World' depicts the encounter of mathematical genius Carl Friedrich Gauss and the legendary explorer Alexander von Humboldt, both of whom made scientific discoveries which changed the world.

Kehlmann depicts these two Enlightenment heroes warts and all - vain, obsessive, quarrelsome and mortal. But the consuming fascination of ideas comes alive in Kehlmann's witty and ironic tale, the biggest selling novel in Germany in the last 20 years, which has been translated into 29 languages and hailed as a masterpiece.

His comic novel 'Me and Kaminsky' takes on the art world. Conceited, and lazy but ambitious Sebastian Zollner is anxious to make his name by writing the biography of Kaminski, a great modern artist. Kehlmann takes a swing at celebrity, fame and self-interest in what has been described as a "steely comedy".

Daniel Kehlmann is the author of eight novels, and is a leading figure in contemporary German fiction. He will be in conversation with Brigitte Bonisch-Brednich.

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