Travels into North America

Finnish-Swedish botanist Peter Kalm (1716–79) forged important scientific links between his country and England and North America through his extensive travels in and notes about the latter, which were translated into English via German and published in three volumes in 1770–1.

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Peter Kalm (1716–79) was a Finnish-Swedish botanist who travelled extensively to observe the natural world in Sweden, Finland, Russia and Ukraine, and became a professor of 'oeconomie' - the economic application of subjects such as mineralogy, botany, zoology and chemistry - at the university of Turku. Between 1747 and 1751 he set out on a journey through eastern North America to gather specimens, especially from regions with a similar climate to Sweden. Because Kalm travelled though the area when much of it was still unknown to Europeans, this work has some of the first recorded accounts of places such as Niagara Falls. Kalm played an important part in forging scientific links between Sweden, England and North America. This three-volume work details his travels, and was first published in English in 1770–1. Volume 1 covers Kalm's Atlantic crossing, and describes the plant and animal life of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.