Measuring the world

D. Kehlman's Measuring the World is a fascinating book about Gauss and von Humboldt. Kehlman writes fluently (I think, it's a translation, after all) and the subject matter is simply great. Gauss travelled to Konigsberg to meet Immanuel Kant, but I.K. was already too senile to appreciate Gauss's invention of non-Euclidean geometry? Gauss's son was involved in German nationalist/republican movement and escaped to the U.S.? Maybe. Never mind, very good stories, even if not verifiable.