Status
Checked out
Due 20-10-2021
Call number
Collection
Publication
Vintage (2016), Edition: Reprint, 576 pages
Description
Science. Nonfiction. The acclaimed author of The Brother Gardeners and Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of the visionary German naturalist whose ideas continue to influence how we view ourselves and our relationship with the natural world today. Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax-infested Siberia. He came up with a radical vision of nature, that it was a complex and interconnected global force and did not exist for man's use alone. Ironically, his ideas have become so accepted and widespread that he has been nearly forgotten. Now Andrea Wulf brings the man and his achievements back into focus: his investigation of wild environments around the world; his discoveries of similarities between climate zones on different continents; his prediction of human-induced climate change; his remarkable ability to fashion poetic narrative out of scientific observation; and his relationships with iconic figures such as Simon Bolivar and Thomas Jefferson. Wulf examines how his writings inspired other naturalists and poets such as Wordsworth, Darwin, and Goethe, and she makes the compelling case that it was Humboldt's influence on John Muir that led him to his ideas of preservation and that shaped Thoreau's Walden. Humboldt was the most interdisciplinary of scientists and is the forgotten father of environmentalism. With this brilliantly researched and compellingly written book, she makes clear the myriad, fundamental ways that Humboldt created our understanding of the natural world.… (more)
Media reviews
Wulf’s The Invention of Nature shines its spotlight on that arc of environmental knowledge linking Humboldt’s late eighteenth century to our twenty-first. If he was ever forgotten in the English-speaking world, then this biography places him once again where he belongs, with Charles Darwin and
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James Cook, Ernest Shackleton and David Attenborough, Rachel Carson and Jane Goodall, the great natural historians and scientific adventurers. ... It doesn’t matter that Wulf’s The Invention of Nature is a bit breathless in keeping up with its dazzling hero, and a bit coy about his relationships, because above all the book is intelligent, an optimistic history, well researched, well written, and an ecological cri de coeur. Show Less
Andrea Wulf’s Humboldt is the ecological visionary and humanist. Despite some reiteration, her book is readable, thoughtful and widely researched, and informed by German sources richer than the English canon. It is the first formal biography in English for many years and may go some way toward
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returning this strange genius to the public. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
I choose new books to read in a variety of ways. I tend to pore over the weekly review pages in the press, and I often pick up recommendations from friends or colleagues. Sometimes, however, there is one of those marvellous serendipitous moments when you pick a book up entirely by chance and it
It is a wonderful book. Essentially a biography of Alexander von Humboldt, famous traveller and natural historian, it offers so much more. Humboldt was an extraordinary man, and enjoyed immense fame throughout his own lifetime. He travelled extensively, without regard for comfort or his own safety, collecting specimens of local flora and fauna wherever he went, and cataloguing his findings. His wanderlust led him to cross the Andes on foot, and without any mountaineering kit, sketching everything he saw as he went. He is credited with being the first biologist to identify nature as a series of interlaced ecosytems, vulnerable to sudden changes or human intervention.
Andrea Wulf has clearly researched Humboldt’s life exhaustively, though the book is not a dry catalogue of his achievements. She offers enticing vignettes of Humboldt’s friendships with Goethe (now, of course, primarily remembered as a literary figure, though he considered himself first and foremost as a scientist), and Thomas Jefferson. He also knew Simon Bolivar well, and was cited by him as a major inspiration.
A fascinating book. Entertaining and enlightening – biography at its best.
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turns out to be a gem. On this occasion it hadn’t started well. I found myself unexpectedly without a book to read on the journey home from the office, having been sold the dummy by the one I had been reading on the way into work. I had been confident that there were another thirty or forty pages left, enough to tide me over the journey home, only to discover that the publisher had padded the book out with the first two or three chapters of the next book in the series. Shocked at the prospect if a bookless journey home I dashed into Foyles at Waterloo Station and this was the first book that took my eye, despite3 my woeful ignorance over Alexander Humboldt.It is a wonderful book. Essentially a biography of Alexander von Humboldt, famous traveller and natural historian, it offers so much more. Humboldt was an extraordinary man, and enjoyed immense fame throughout his own lifetime. He travelled extensively, without regard for comfort or his own safety, collecting specimens of local flora and fauna wherever he went, and cataloguing his findings. His wanderlust led him to cross the Andes on foot, and without any mountaineering kit, sketching everything he saw as he went. He is credited with being the first biologist to identify nature as a series of interlaced ecosytems, vulnerable to sudden changes or human intervention.
Andrea Wulf has clearly researched Humboldt’s life exhaustively, though the book is not a dry catalogue of his achievements. She offers enticing vignettes of Humboldt’s friendships with Goethe (now, of course, primarily remembered as a literary figure, though he considered himself first and foremost as a scientist), and Thomas Jefferson. He also knew Simon Bolivar well, and was cited by him as a major inspiration.
A fascinating book. Entertaining and enlightening – biography at its best.
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LibraryThing member murderbydeath
The Lost Hero of Science is not hyperbole. It's one of the great tragedies of history that this man's name is no longer on the tip of every man, woman and child's tongue (at least in the English speaking world).
I don't know where to begin, but to put it as concisely as possible, read any headline
Humboldt was acerbic, impatient, and had a level of energy few can imagine without pharmaceutical assistance. He devoted his life in every way to science and nature, eschewing most personal relationships in favour of relentless study, but he was also generous with his knowledge and money - much to the betterment of the world and the detriment of his finances. He was in almost every way a true hero, as the title claims, and unarguably a role-model for more than just fellow scientists. Without Humboldt we very likely would not have Darwin (Darwin himself said without Humboldt, he would not have found his calling on the Beagle). Without Humboldt we wouldn't have those lines on weather maps, either (isotherms/isobars).
In short, his life was incredible and Wulf does a better than creditable job illustrating not only his adventures and indefatigable levels of energy, but his impact on the world; not just scientists, but artists, authors, poets and politicians. She writes a very readable narrative and communicates what must have been an enormous amount of information in a way that remains coherent throughout. She remains objective but is never dry or academic. My half-star demerit is only because some of the chapters devoted to others I found less interesting that the star of the book himself.
I'd like to insist that every single person read this book, but realistically... every single person should read this book. For those that enjoy science and history, it's a definite do-not-miss.
(This was a BookLikes-opoly Free Friday Read for July 7th and was 341 pages (minus the various appendices and index).
I don't know where to begin, but to put it as concisely as possible, read any headline
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about environmental science today and Humboldt called it almost 200 years ago. Deforestation: check. Desertification: check. The long term devastation of monoculture: check. Climate change: check. At the more extreme ends, he was calling for the creation of the Panama canal decades before it was a glint in America's eye and he insisted that even rocks contain life (they do - look it up).Humboldt was acerbic, impatient, and had a level of energy few can imagine without pharmaceutical assistance. He devoted his life in every way to science and nature, eschewing most personal relationships in favour of relentless study, but he was also generous with his knowledge and money - much to the betterment of the world and the detriment of his finances. He was in almost every way a true hero, as the title claims, and unarguably a role-model for more than just fellow scientists. Without Humboldt we very likely would not have Darwin (Darwin himself said without Humboldt, he would not have found his calling on the Beagle). Without Humboldt we wouldn't have those lines on weather maps, either (isotherms/isobars).
In short, his life was incredible and Wulf does a better than creditable job illustrating not only his adventures and indefatigable levels of energy, but his impact on the world; not just scientists, but artists, authors, poets and politicians. She writes a very readable narrative and communicates what must have been an enormous amount of information in a way that remains coherent throughout. She remains objective but is never dry or academic. My half-star demerit is only because some of the chapters devoted to others I found less interesting that the star of the book himself.
I'd like to insist that every single person read this book, but realistically... every single person should read this book. For those that enjoy science and history, it's a definite do-not-miss.
(This was a BookLikes-opoly Free Friday Read for July 7th and was 341 pages (minus the various appendices and index).
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LibraryThing member japaul22
[The Invention of Nature] by [[Andrea Wulf]]
This is a biography of the late 18th/early 19th century naturalist/explorer/scientist/writer Alexander Humboldt. To be honest, I had never heard of Humboldt, so I was interested to see how famous he was in his day and what an influence he had on others
Humboldt's main claim to fame was beginning the movement that saw nature as a global whole, not just getting stuck in the classification system on a small level. His travels throughout South America and particularly in current-day Ecuador where he climbed Chimborazo, an enormous active volcano, opened his eyes to the ways nature is connected around the globe. He realized that plants from different regions are often the same or similar when growing at the same altitude. He was also one of the first to point out man's destructive impact on nature.
This biography tells a lot about the people Humboldt influenced. In this book Simon Bolivar, Darwin, Thoreau, and John Muir (among others) are all talked about extensively and tied to Humboldt's ideas. I found this interesting but at the same time, sort of distracting. I wanted to get back to Humboldt during each diversion.
Overall, this was an interesting biography, but not a great one.
This is a biography of the late 18th/early 19th century naturalist/explorer/scientist/writer Alexander Humboldt. To be honest, I had never heard of Humboldt, so I was interested to see how famous he was in his day and what an influence he had on others
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that I had heard of. Humboldt's main claim to fame was beginning the movement that saw nature as a global whole, not just getting stuck in the classification system on a small level. His travels throughout South America and particularly in current-day Ecuador where he climbed Chimborazo, an enormous active volcano, opened his eyes to the ways nature is connected around the globe. He realized that plants from different regions are often the same or similar when growing at the same altitude. He was also one of the first to point out man's destructive impact on nature.
This biography tells a lot about the people Humboldt influenced. In this book Simon Bolivar, Darwin, Thoreau, and John Muir (among others) are all talked about extensively and tied to Humboldt's ideas. I found this interesting but at the same time, sort of distracting. I wanted to get back to Humboldt during each diversion.
Overall, this was an interesting biography, but not a great one.
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LibraryThing member Dreesie
The Humboldt Current. Humboldt County (CA and NV). Humboldt State University (CA) and Universidad Humboldt (Venezuela). These and the many other "Humboldt" place names aren't honoring different Humboldts. They are all honoring one--Prussian naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.
And while
So who was Alexander von Humboldt? In the early 19th century he traveled through much of South America studying plants, geology, rivers, animals, and the economic systems in place. He climbed mountains and rafted rivers. He met and corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, knew Goethe, and was long supported by Prussian nobility (even while living in Paris during Bonaparte's reign). He later, at the age of 60, traveled through Russia to the China/Mongolia border and back. He wrote many, many books on natural history, geology, and occasionally on politics.
In this biography, Wulf introduces this man, whom most readers will not be familiar with at all. Even though we know the name "Humboldt" as a place name. Even though we know his ideasóîthat plants and animals live in zones determined by elevation and latitude; that man's actions can destroy nature (deforestation, over-irrigation); that nature is a web, with all parts acting together. He was the first naturalist to use drawings and diagrams rather than paragraphs of text alone to illustrate ideas. He first used isotherms (those lines that connect same/similar temperatures on maps). And we know well those he influenced with his books, travels, and ideas: Simon Bolivar, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, and John Muir. Students of ecology might recognize some others as well: Ernst Haeckel and the artist Frederic Edwin Church.
As Wulf suggests, we know longer know his name because so many of his ideas have become the norm.
A well- and thoroughly researched biography. I have only 2 complaints: on page 55 the word "watershed" is used when "divide" is meant. Twice in one paragraph. As in "All the scientific understanding of the day suggested that the Orinoco and Amazon basins had to be separated by a watershed because the idea of a natural waterway linking two large rivers was against all empirical evidence." Separated by a DIVIDE. The basins mentioned are each a watershed. UGH how does this stuff get through? And, second, rather than footnotes (my favorite) or properly noted endnotes, this books uses those annoying endnote-style notes that are NOT noted in the text. So you don't know when to refer to them. Annoying and frustrating.
And while
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Americans are not very familiar with Humboldt, in Germany and especially in South America, he is very well known.So who was Alexander von Humboldt? In the early 19th century he traveled through much of South America studying plants, geology, rivers, animals, and the economic systems in place. He climbed mountains and rafted rivers. He met and corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, knew Goethe, and was long supported by Prussian nobility (even while living in Paris during Bonaparte's reign). He later, at the age of 60, traveled through Russia to the China/Mongolia border and back. He wrote many, many books on natural history, geology, and occasionally on politics.
In this biography, Wulf introduces this man, whom most readers will not be familiar with at all. Even though we know the name "Humboldt" as a place name. Even though we know his ideasóîthat plants and animals live in zones determined by elevation and latitude; that man's actions can destroy nature (deforestation, over-irrigation); that nature is a web, with all parts acting together. He was the first naturalist to use drawings and diagrams rather than paragraphs of text alone to illustrate ideas. He first used isotherms (those lines that connect same/similar temperatures on maps). And we know well those he influenced with his books, travels, and ideas: Simon Bolivar, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, and John Muir. Students of ecology might recognize some others as well: Ernst Haeckel and the artist Frederic Edwin Church.
As Wulf suggests, we know longer know his name because so many of his ideas have become the norm.
A well- and thoroughly researched biography. I have only 2 complaints: on page 55 the word "watershed" is used when "divide" is meant. Twice in one paragraph. As in "All the scientific understanding of the day suggested that the Orinoco and Amazon basins had to be separated by a watershed because the idea of a natural waterway linking two large rivers was against all empirical evidence." Separated by a DIVIDE. The basins mentioned are each a watershed. UGH how does this stuff get through? And, second, rather than footnotes (my favorite) or properly noted endnotes, this books uses those annoying endnote-style notes that are NOT noted in the text. So you don't know when to refer to them. Annoying and frustrating.
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LibraryThing member thorold
Alexander von Humboldt (Prussia, 1769-1859) was one of the biggest scientific stars of his generation, and there are still hundreds of places and species around the world named after him, but he's rather dropped out of fashion in the English-speaking world. He's not someone who comes up in most
Wulf's biography aims to put that right, by showing us Humboldt as the person who taught his contemporaries that when you look closely at nature with the eyes (and instruments!) of a scientific investigator, you need to go beyond mere cataloguing to discover the interconnectedness of the things you see into a larger picture: species with habitat, predator with food source, etc., and you can also see evidence of long and short-term changes. As well as looking at Humboldt directly, she looks at him through the eyes of some of his most important readers (in particular, Darwin, Haeckel, Thoreau, and John Muir) to show the enormous influence Humboldt's way of looking at the world has had on the development of what we are likely to think of as much more recent ideas - evolution, ecology, environmentalism, climate change, investigation of the effects of pollution and deforestation, and so on. And it was Humboldt who coined the word "cosmos"!
I vaguely knew about some of that already, but I didn't know that Humboldt was also a firm critic of slavery and colonialism and an associate of Simon Bolivar (I probably should have known that from Gabriel Garcia Marquez). It was probably these political views that prevented Humboldt from getting permission to visit British India.
I enjoyed the discussion of Goethe's influence on Humboldt and vice-versa, but I was a little disappointed not to get more on how Humboldt influenced other poets and artists: the title made me think the book would be more oriented towards how science changed the interpretation of the concept of "nature" in literature, but in practice all we get on that is a couple of paragraphs about Wordsworth and Coleridge. Probably fair enough, since that's a topic that's been dealt with quite often already by literary scholars, but it would have been interesting to see how someone approaching the question from the science side sees it.
This is an enjoyable and very accessible book, sometimes a touch pedestrian in its efforts to be accommodating to the ignorant ("Voltaire, the French thinker"), but generally very agreeable to read. It isn't a super-detailed biography of Humboldt, but I'm sure there are plenty of those gathering dust in libraries if you want to know about the parts of his life that didn't fit into Wulf's book, like his travels in Mexico. Although Wulf talks a lot about Humboldt's writing, she doesn't quote from him very extensively, so the book left me wanting to try him out first-hand and see if the magic Darwin found is still there (it clearly was for Wulf). Which I consider a plus point for the book.
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modern accounts of the period, and if you hear his name then it will usually be because a near-contemporary is citing him: it wasn't until quite recently that I even worked out the very basic fact that there were two Humboldts, Alexander the scientific explorer and his brother Werner the educationalist and linguist, after whom Berlin University is named. Wulf's biography aims to put that right, by showing us Humboldt as the person who taught his contemporaries that when you look closely at nature with the eyes (and instruments!) of a scientific investigator, you need to go beyond mere cataloguing to discover the interconnectedness of the things you see into a larger picture: species with habitat, predator with food source, etc., and you can also see evidence of long and short-term changes. As well as looking at Humboldt directly, she looks at him through the eyes of some of his most important readers (in particular, Darwin, Haeckel, Thoreau, and John Muir) to show the enormous influence Humboldt's way of looking at the world has had on the development of what we are likely to think of as much more recent ideas - evolution, ecology, environmentalism, climate change, investigation of the effects of pollution and deforestation, and so on. And it was Humboldt who coined the word "cosmos"!
I vaguely knew about some of that already, but I didn't know that Humboldt was also a firm critic of slavery and colonialism and an associate of Simon Bolivar (I probably should have known that from Gabriel Garcia Marquez). It was probably these political views that prevented Humboldt from getting permission to visit British India.
I enjoyed the discussion of Goethe's influence on Humboldt and vice-versa, but I was a little disappointed not to get more on how Humboldt influenced other poets and artists: the title made me think the book would be more oriented towards how science changed the interpretation of the concept of "nature" in literature, but in practice all we get on that is a couple of paragraphs about Wordsworth and Coleridge. Probably fair enough, since that's a topic that's been dealt with quite often already by literary scholars, but it would have been interesting to see how someone approaching the question from the science side sees it.
This is an enjoyable and very accessible book, sometimes a touch pedestrian in its efforts to be accommodating to the ignorant ("Voltaire, the French thinker"), but generally very agreeable to read. It isn't a super-detailed biography of Humboldt, but I'm sure there are plenty of those gathering dust in libraries if you want to know about the parts of his life that didn't fit into Wulf's book, like his travels in Mexico. Although Wulf talks a lot about Humboldt's writing, she doesn't quote from him very extensively, so the book left me wanting to try him out first-hand and see if the magic Darwin found is still there (it clearly was for Wulf). Which I consider a plus point for the book.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Humboldt was a naturalist at the tail end of imperial ambitions; his ambition was merely to catalog everything he could, and to promote a view of nature as an interconnected web—the foundation of modern ecology. The book tells his story and chunks of the stories of those who encountered him or
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were profoundly shaped by his once incredibly popular work, from Goethe to Darwin to Thoreau to Simon Bolivar (one of his companions on one of his longer trips). Show Less
LibraryThing member Jaylia3
A scientific expedition had long been Alexander von Humboldt’s dream, so when he stepped onto the shores of Latin America in 1799 he was beyond excited, and soon began exploring, measuring, comparing, questioning, and chronicling everything: the distribution of indigenous plants, barometric
Humboldt’s many visionary achievements have had a lasting impact. He began talking about man-made climate change in 1800, he invented isotherms--lines of temperature and pressure--that we still see on today’s weather maps, he initiated the idea of vegetation and climate zones, he denounced slavery and colonialism when both still had a strong hold, he inspired many great thinkers and leaders of his day and beyond, and he revolutionized how we think about nature by describing it as an interconnected web in which what happens to one part affects everything else.
Though colonial powers weren’t crazy about some of his revolutionary political ideas, Humboldt had an energetic charisma that drew people to him and he was widely celebrated in his life. His death was mourned around the globe, and huge world-wide celebrations were held on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. So why isn’t he better known today? One reason Wulf gives is that unlike Newton or Columbus, Humboldt isn’t recognized for a one great discovery--his methods were holistic, combining the hard data of science with art, poetry, history and politics, and his biggest successes involved making science both popular and accessible through his ingeniously imagined graphics and widely read books. The other reason Humboldt fell off radar in the English speaking world is the anti-German sentiment that developed during WWI.
Andrea Wulf’s enthusiasm about her subject is contagious, so this book she’s written about Humboldt and his legacy is fascinating, even gripping, and highly readable. Beautiful illustrations from some of Humboldt’s own books are included. Because Humboldt spent time in many places and knew well or influenced a lot of notable people, Wulf has included in-depth, idea-rich portraits of a wide variety of people, including members of the Prussian royal family, Goethe, Kant, Thomas Jefferson, Simón Bolívar, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Darwin, John Muir, Ernst Haeckel, George Perkins Marsh, and Henry David Thoreau. I especially enjoyed reading about Humboldt’s enthusiastic explorations of the world around him, Napoleonic era Paris, the revolutionary history of South America, and Humboldt’s wild ride across Russia.
I read an advanced review copy of this book supplied by the publisher. If the finished version has color plates instead of black and white it will be even more spectacular.
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pressure at different altitudes, the relative blueness of the sky, the cultures and customs of local people, rates of river evaporation, the environmental effects of farming, examples of native language, the charge in electric eels, and--maybe most significantly--his thoughts and feelings about it all, because Humboldt believed people learned by their connection to nature so he used comparison and poetic analogies to advance his discoveries and expand his understanding. Humboldt has to be one of the most interesting people I’d almost never heard of. (I checked the index of one of my all time favorite books about the era, Richard Holmes’s The Age of Wonder, and Humboldt does receive a few scant mentions there.)Humboldt’s many visionary achievements have had a lasting impact. He began talking about man-made climate change in 1800, he invented isotherms--lines of temperature and pressure--that we still see on today’s weather maps, he initiated the idea of vegetation and climate zones, he denounced slavery and colonialism when both still had a strong hold, he inspired many great thinkers and leaders of his day and beyond, and he revolutionized how we think about nature by describing it as an interconnected web in which what happens to one part affects everything else.
Though colonial powers weren’t crazy about some of his revolutionary political ideas, Humboldt had an energetic charisma that drew people to him and he was widely celebrated in his life. His death was mourned around the globe, and huge world-wide celebrations were held on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. So why isn’t he better known today? One reason Wulf gives is that unlike Newton or Columbus, Humboldt isn’t recognized for a one great discovery--his methods were holistic, combining the hard data of science with art, poetry, history and politics, and his biggest successes involved making science both popular and accessible through his ingeniously imagined graphics and widely read books. The other reason Humboldt fell off radar in the English speaking world is the anti-German sentiment that developed during WWI.
Andrea Wulf’s enthusiasm about her subject is contagious, so this book she’s written about Humboldt and his legacy is fascinating, even gripping, and highly readable. Beautiful illustrations from some of Humboldt’s own books are included. Because Humboldt spent time in many places and knew well or influenced a lot of notable people, Wulf has included in-depth, idea-rich portraits of a wide variety of people, including members of the Prussian royal family, Goethe, Kant, Thomas Jefferson, Simón Bolívar, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Darwin, John Muir, Ernst Haeckel, George Perkins Marsh, and Henry David Thoreau. I especially enjoyed reading about Humboldt’s enthusiastic explorations of the world around him, Napoleonic era Paris, the revolutionary history of South America, and Humboldt’s wild ride across Russia.
I read an advanced review copy of this book supplied by the publisher. If the finished version has color plates instead of black and white it will be even more spectacular.
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LibraryThing member cabegley
No one had ever come this high before, and no one had ever breathed such thin air. As he stood at the top of the world, looking down upon the mountain ranges folded beneath him, Humboldt began to see the world differently. He saw the earth as one great living organism where everything was
Alexander von Humboldt (1759-1869) was one of the last great polymaths, a scientist (before “scientist” was coined) who was fascinated with all aspects of the natural world, and went to great lengths to explore it. He was the first scientist to really grasp nature as a web of life, interconnected and interdependent. While he is not well-known today, many of his concepts are still used in our daily lives, so interwoven that we probably don’t even consider how they got there. He invented isotherms (the lines of temperature and pressure on our weather maps) and is the reason we plant in climate zones. Through his study of their similar costal plants, he grasped that Africa and South America had once been connected, and planted the seeds for our understanding of shifting tectonic plates. He discovered the magnetic equator. He started our (still, shockingly, controversial) conversation about the human causes of global climate change, and was ahead of his time in speaking out against unjust land distribution, monocultures, poor treatment of indigenous populations, and slavery. He influenced other scientists, writers, artists, world leaders, naturalists, and thinkers. In his long life, he was one of the most famous men in Europe, who dominated every room he entered.
Andrea Wulf’s excellent [The Invention of Nature] is a rich exploration of Humboldt’s life and work, reflecting Humboldt’s concept of nature as a web in her many interesting discursions into other people who were influenced by Humboldt (Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Simon Bolivar, and John Muir, to name just a few). I know it’s only January, but I can’t imagine this book not being on top of my best-books list come the end of the year.
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connected, conceiving a bold new vision of nature that still influences the way that we understand the natural world.Alexander von Humboldt (1759-1869) was one of the last great polymaths, a scientist (before “scientist” was coined) who was fascinated with all aspects of the natural world, and went to great lengths to explore it. He was the first scientist to really grasp nature as a web of life, interconnected and interdependent. While he is not well-known today, many of his concepts are still used in our daily lives, so interwoven that we probably don’t even consider how they got there. He invented isotherms (the lines of temperature and pressure on our weather maps) and is the reason we plant in climate zones. Through his study of their similar costal plants, he grasped that Africa and South America had once been connected, and planted the seeds for our understanding of shifting tectonic plates. He discovered the magnetic equator. He started our (still, shockingly, controversial) conversation about the human causes of global climate change, and was ahead of his time in speaking out against unjust land distribution, monocultures, poor treatment of indigenous populations, and slavery. He influenced other scientists, writers, artists, world leaders, naturalists, and thinkers. In his long life, he was one of the most famous men in Europe, who dominated every room he entered.
Andrea Wulf’s excellent [The Invention of Nature] is a rich exploration of Humboldt’s life and work, reflecting Humboldt’s concept of nature as a web in her many interesting discursions into other people who were influenced by Humboldt (Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Simon Bolivar, and John Muir, to name just a few). I know it’s only January, but I can’t imagine this book not being on top of my best-books list come the end of the year.
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LibraryThing member hhornblower
I knew of Alexander Humboldt, but knew nothing about him. Well this inspiring book, solved that mistake. This is a wonderfully well written book that just makes you want to get outside and explore the world (once you manage to put the book down). Not only does Andrea Wulf paint a clear portrait of
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the man, but also all the other major thinkers and scientists that he inspired. I can't recommend this book enough. Show Less
LibraryThing member applemcg
Read the book; you'll be one-up on the other 99% who only vaguely have heard the name, and can't place it. A visit to Jefferson confirmed the President's natural instincts, providing any remaining inspiration to explore the continent west of Monticello. Interestingly, Pat's and my engagement, in
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Zurich, happened on the 100th anniversary of the 100th Anniversary celebration of Humboldt's birth. Wulf brings this near past into vivid context, as if we had lived in the time when news took it's time. In so doing, helps us appreciate Humboldt's impact in his own day. Show Less
LibraryThing member Steve38
A readable biography of Alexander von Humbolt. But a bit gushing, repetitive and journalistic. And with several filler chapters at the end about people influenced by Humboldt such as Charles Darwin. No complaints really but a man who was such an inveterate letter writer must have left a mass of
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literature and connections. Despite everything he was still a bit distant by the time I reached the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member willszal
Like much of what I've read in the past few years, the recommendation for this book came from David Abram's bookshelves.
At first, I didn't read this book because I took the title at face value. Any time I hear someone us a word like "invention" or "discover" in combination with some term from the
I was right about the first bit; Wulf does almost nothing to presence the place of indigenous peoples in the history here. That said, I was very much wrong that this is a book about dualing. Copernicus and Descartes aren't here to correct me, so I'll oversimple things for the time being and place the blame of dualing at their feet. Humboldt was very much a force for undualing—deepening human relationship with nature.
To say a little more on this—I'm current reading Christopher Alexander's, "The Nature of Order." In it he describes a "new" method of discerning the aliveness of something not by asking ourselves whether or not we like it, but by sitting with the question, "does this thing increase my somatic experience of aliveness." This is very much in the lineage of Goethe, Humbodlt, Thoreau, and Muir. All of these men used their full serves as deeply subtle instruments to assess things that are simply accessible with the external instrumentation we have available (and ultimately begins to unite the spiritual and scientific world, as such capacities require ongoing development). Alexander's position that "his" somatic method is "new" shows just how far we still have to come in regard to honoring the capacities of our whole human selves.
Wulf has done something beautiful here in that the book reads as a personal memoir rather than a history. And I mean this in the best of ways; you feel like her subjects are your uncle by the time you're done reading. She brings so much personality and eccentricity through about her subjects, unlike many histories, which try to stay impersonal.
I've been hearing Humbolt's name for years, and new he had produced some beautiful visual representations of nature, but hadn't thought much of him until I read this book. Wulf is right that Humbolt's place in the evolution of Western thought has mostly been forgotten in the United States. I had even written about Goethian Science (and I work in an ecology-adjacent field), so it is a little stunning I didn't know more about Humboldt. After reading the book, Humboldt joins the ranks of Copernicus and Einstein as the most influential of Western thinkers.
The book begins with a note on Humbodlt's mentor, Goethe, then spends its bulk on a chronological biography of Humboldt, then moves into a review of his biggest disciples—Thomas Jefferson, Simón Bolívar, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, Ernst Haeckel, and John Muir. As you might already be guessing from this list, it could be argued that Humboldt was the most influential person of the 19th century (although others might argue for various warlords). This structure places Humboldt in a context to help understand the magnitude of his influence (and actually many other biographies would do well to learn from Wulf's methods).
One interesting note about the "explorer" archetype—the evidence infers the conclusion that Humboldt was gay and asexual. This certainly runs counter to one of the dominant myths about the explorer archetype. Maybe Humboldt can help to posthumously contribute to shifting norms in this regard.
Despite Humboldt's renown, we're constantly reminded of his mortality and impotence in certain aspects of his ability to navigate his destiny. Humboldt went on his career-defining trip during the first five years of his thirties. He got out on one other six-month expedition at the end of his fifties. He spent the rest of his life trying to write down what he learned, following up with correspondence, and serving as a chamberlain to two Prussian kings. Due to his generosity in funding other scientists, and his utter lack of interest in business and entrepreneurial matters, he generally was short on cash, although never fell fully into destitution.
I'm left with the feeling that pervades the film "Cloud Atlas." Yes—the forces of domination and extraction continue to hold power across generations. And yet, the resistance manages to subsist, and it is through the seeds that we plant in our generation that gives deliverance for the next. Humboldt was one of these gardeners of the resistance, and I'm grateful to Wulf's brilliant research and storytelling to remind us that that which Humboldt planted is still with us!
At first, I didn't read this book because I took the title at face value. Any time I hear someone us a word like "invention" or "discover" in combination with some term from the
Show More
natural world, I assume it will be a book of indigenous erasure and further what my colleague calls the process of "dualing" (as in, divorcing humans from nature). That said, my curiosity about Humboldt eventually got the better of me.I was right about the first bit; Wulf does almost nothing to presence the place of indigenous peoples in the history here. That said, I was very much wrong that this is a book about dualing. Copernicus and Descartes aren't here to correct me, so I'll oversimple things for the time being and place the blame of dualing at their feet. Humboldt was very much a force for undualing—deepening human relationship with nature.
To say a little more on this—I'm current reading Christopher Alexander's, "The Nature of Order." In it he describes a "new" method of discerning the aliveness of something not by asking ourselves whether or not we like it, but by sitting with the question, "does this thing increase my somatic experience of aliveness." This is very much in the lineage of Goethe, Humbodlt, Thoreau, and Muir. All of these men used their full serves as deeply subtle instruments to assess things that are simply accessible with the external instrumentation we have available (and ultimately begins to unite the spiritual and scientific world, as such capacities require ongoing development). Alexander's position that "his" somatic method is "new" shows just how far we still have to come in regard to honoring the capacities of our whole human selves.
Wulf has done something beautiful here in that the book reads as a personal memoir rather than a history. And I mean this in the best of ways; you feel like her subjects are your uncle by the time you're done reading. She brings so much personality and eccentricity through about her subjects, unlike many histories, which try to stay impersonal.
I've been hearing Humbolt's name for years, and new he had produced some beautiful visual representations of nature, but hadn't thought much of him until I read this book. Wulf is right that Humbolt's place in the evolution of Western thought has mostly been forgotten in the United States. I had even written about Goethian Science (and I work in an ecology-adjacent field), so it is a little stunning I didn't know more about Humboldt. After reading the book, Humboldt joins the ranks of Copernicus and Einstein as the most influential of Western thinkers.
The book begins with a note on Humbodlt's mentor, Goethe, then spends its bulk on a chronological biography of Humboldt, then moves into a review of his biggest disciples—Thomas Jefferson, Simón Bolívar, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, Ernst Haeckel, and John Muir. As you might already be guessing from this list, it could be argued that Humboldt was the most influential person of the 19th century (although others might argue for various warlords). This structure places Humboldt in a context to help understand the magnitude of his influence (and actually many other biographies would do well to learn from Wulf's methods).
One interesting note about the "explorer" archetype—the evidence infers the conclusion that Humboldt was gay and asexual. This certainly runs counter to one of the dominant myths about the explorer archetype. Maybe Humboldt can help to posthumously contribute to shifting norms in this regard.
Despite Humboldt's renown, we're constantly reminded of his mortality and impotence in certain aspects of his ability to navigate his destiny. Humboldt went on his career-defining trip during the first five years of his thirties. He got out on one other six-month expedition at the end of his fifties. He spent the rest of his life trying to write down what he learned, following up with correspondence, and serving as a chamberlain to two Prussian kings. Due to his generosity in funding other scientists, and his utter lack of interest in business and entrepreneurial matters, he generally was short on cash, although never fell fully into destitution.
I'm left with the feeling that pervades the film "Cloud Atlas." Yes—the forces of domination and extraction continue to hold power across generations. And yet, the resistance manages to subsist, and it is through the seeds that we plant in our generation that gives deliverance for the next. Humboldt was one of these gardeners of the resistance, and I'm grateful to Wulf's brilliant research and storytelling to remind us that that which Humboldt planted is still with us!
Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
I enjoyed the book for a few reasons: First, it brings Humboldt to life very effectively - and what a person he was! He's very multi-faceted, and the breadth of his intellect is staggering. I was almost breathless trying to imagine the sheer pace of his life. And some of his feats - in particular
Second, the book manages to combine telling the story of Humboldt with describing the times he lived in, and the political, historical and social context. I found the passages that weren't about Humboldt at all (eg the descriptions of Bolivar's revolution) equally fascinating as those that were about him.
Third, I found all of the concepts he seems to have pioneered fascinating, both because of the ideas themselves but that he came up with so many and challenged and often changed conventional wisdom. He (and the book) are all the more interesting because he also had modern and progressive views on so many social issues (slavery etc). Was there any subject he wasn't an expert in?
If there's one small criticism of the book, I wonder if it doesn't make him into too much of a hero, and that it glosses over some of his shortcomings. He seemed to have a pretty high opinion of himself, to be socially awkward and sometimes unpleasant to people, to treat his brother quite badly at times, and to be disorganised in some aspects of his personal life -- more attention to his shortcomings would round out our understanding of his character more.
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his Latin America travels - were themselves almost unimaginable. And how did he manage to write and publish so much?!Second, the book manages to combine telling the story of Humboldt with describing the times he lived in, and the political, historical and social context. I found the passages that weren't about Humboldt at all (eg the descriptions of Bolivar's revolution) equally fascinating as those that were about him.
Third, I found all of the concepts he seems to have pioneered fascinating, both because of the ideas themselves but that he came up with so many and challenged and often changed conventional wisdom. He (and the book) are all the more interesting because he also had modern and progressive views on so many social issues (slavery etc). Was there any subject he wasn't an expert in?
If there's one small criticism of the book, I wonder if it doesn't make him into too much of a hero, and that it glosses over some of his shortcomings. He seemed to have a pretty high opinion of himself, to be socially awkward and sometimes unpleasant to people, to treat his brother quite badly at times, and to be disorganised in some aspects of his personal life -- more attention to his shortcomings would round out our understanding of his character more.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
Before reading Wulf''s biography, I has a vague sense that Humboldt was an explorer and scientist/collector who has sent years in South America. All true, but that is like saying "Einstein was a theoretical physicist", true, but a lot is left out. Wulf shows us Humboldt the scientist, the writer,
.
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the republican firebrand who accepted a courtier's position and role in Prussia in order to finance his research and expeditions.She also takes time to explore his influence on other notables, like Charles Darwin and Henry David Thoreau. All that in a bit over 300 pages of text and illustrations. .
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LibraryThing member prichardson
Before reading this book I was vaguely aware of Alexander Von Humboldt - through penguins and a particular current off south America but little else. I thoroughly enjoyed this book not just for the life of Von Humboldt and his many achievements but also for the people he inspired who carried on his
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far reaching and remarkably prescient ideas. Ideal for anyone interested in the environment, ecology and history all of which are covered within this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Welsh_eileen2
A superb biography of a man eager to travel the world in search of the unknown and new.
He gave his name to all manner of previously undiscovered species, notably Humboldts Penguin.
His name is up there with other well known Victorian botanists and explorers and we are all the richer for their
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher John Murray via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
He gave his name to all manner of previously undiscovered species, notably Humboldts Penguin.
His name is up there with other well known Victorian botanists and explorers and we are all the richer for their
Show More
adventures.I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher John Murray via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member countrylife
Writing [The Invention of Nature] must have been quite an undertaking, covering, as it does, all of Alexander von Humboldt’s life and his adventures, discoveries, and writings. Plus the influence his thinking had on so many others and how they expounded upon his theories even more; from Charles
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Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Ernst Haeckel, George Perkins Marsh, John Muir, Simon Bolivar and many others. This is a very interesting biography and a fascinating bit of history of science, too. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sandydog1
Fascinating. And the added bonus, the way the author added extensive commentary on those who were influenced by Humbolt - well it was unique and it worked. You'll learn so much about Goethe, Bolivar, Marsh, Darwin, Haekel, Thoreua, Muir as well.
LibraryThing member freetrader
No doubt an honest portrait but otherwise going nowhere.
LibraryThing member RFABookClub
This masterly written and important biography covers a brilliant explorer, writer, naturalist, and thinker-in short, an accomplished polymath-who is underappreciated today. The writings of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), who is considered the first ecologist, combine science and poetry and
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touch on the harms of colonialism. The scientist pioneered the synthesizing of myriad observations on the natural world (his most extensive explorations were in South America, Russia, and western Europe) and espoused the importance of the interrelationships of disparate sciences, with early descriptions of phenomena that would not become accepted for many decades: continental drift and humankind's influence on climate are but two examples. Wulf (author of the well-received Chasing Venus, Founding Gardeners, and The Brother Gardeners) has performed exhaustive research for her compelling and readable story of a man who was no less than a rock star in his day. The author documents von Humboldt's deep influence on any number of luminaries, including Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Wolfgang van Goethe, Thomas Jefferson, Jules Verne, Simón Bolìvar, and many others, making her claim for Humboldt as "the most extraordinary scientist of his age" totally convincing. Stimulating reading for those interested in general history, natural history, exploration, science, and philosophy. 14 copies in FCPL, 6 holds on 5/8/18. Electronic copies available. Show Less
LibraryThing member untraveller
Learned a fair chunk about Humboldt, for sure. And, the times and aftermath as well. There did seem to be a tad of redundancy in the book and I, personally, would have enjoyed a bit more of biography, but the all-inclusiveness of the book was quite appealing. Thoreau, Muir, Darwin, Marsh, and
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Haeckel were all included to emphasize the width and depth of Humboldt's influence. Good stuff! Show Less
LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
This was an exceptional book in that the remarkable and amazing life and work of Alexander Von Humboldt has been so completely forgotten by the modern world. It not only brings to light all of his theories and concepts of interconnected global natural consequences and man’s early impact on
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climate and nature, but describes his life and the influence that he had on all of the subsequent naturalists such as Darwin, Thoreau, Muir, Goethe, and many others. He was the most famous scientist of his time, 1769-1859. This is a long book with many forays into little known and forgotten political and social history of Europe and South America. Show Less
LibraryThing member santhony
I consider myself to be a relatively well read person. I have a post-graduate degree, read many books on a broad variety of subjects and follow current events quite closely. With that said, prior to reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about Alexander von Humboldt. I recognized the name and
This book not only details the life and adventures of Humboldt, but touches upon some of the people that he influenced in the fields of naturalism and ecology. Humboldt was one of the last true polymaths, expert in many fields of science prior to the era of increasing specialization. He was a pioneer in exploration solely for the benefit of scientific discovery. He published many works on nature, and what came to be the field of ecology, that were among the most popular works of his time. He was revered all over the world.
While this book was therefore quite educational for me, it is not the most well written biography I have ever read. It is very simply written. While many authors of biography (most?) engage in various degrees of hagiography, the author in this case goes overboard in several instances. For example, it is quite clear and widely acknowledged that Humboldt was homosexual. He maintained numerous very close personal relationships with male colleagues and never expressed any interest in women. Nevertheless, the author states that Humboldt was not homosexual, because he said so. Gee, I wonder why Humboldt would deny his homosexuality? After all, homosexuality in the 19th century was widely accepted, right?
The author also inflates several of his accomplishments, which is totally unnecessary given his actual achievements. Because he hiked to the top of several dormant volcanoes in South America, he labels Humboldt the “most experienced” mountain climber of his age, an absurd characterization. Upon reaching the peak of such a mountain (17,000 feet), it is stated that no one on the earth had ever climbed so high. I would suspect that there were generations of Sherpas in the Himalayas that not only climbed so high, but possibly lived at such elevations. He credits Humboldt with developing the theory of climate change, which in my opinion is a stretch. He certainly pointed out the negative effects of such practices as deforestation and excessive irrigation, but only on a local level.
Humboldt certainly influenced a generation of naturalists and essentially founded the science of ecology and what later became environmentalism. He was a close friend of Goethe and Simon Bolivar, both of whom he greatly influenced. He mentored Charles Darwin and was an inspiration to such men as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Perkins Marsh and John Muir, who advanced his ground breaking world view into what has become the science of ecology and the environmentalism movement.
How could such a world famous and widely influential person be practically unknown in the United States? The author theorizes that because of his German heritage, his accomplishments were deemphasized due to the First and Second World Wars. In any event, his genius cannot be denied and his long term influence has to be regarded as among the greatest of the last 200 years.
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associated him with general science, but aside from that, virtually nothing. It was some surprise therefore, to discover that he was widely considered to have been one of the most famous people in the world during the 19th century. This book not only details the life and adventures of Humboldt, but touches upon some of the people that he influenced in the fields of naturalism and ecology. Humboldt was one of the last true polymaths, expert in many fields of science prior to the era of increasing specialization. He was a pioneer in exploration solely for the benefit of scientific discovery. He published many works on nature, and what came to be the field of ecology, that were among the most popular works of his time. He was revered all over the world.
While this book was therefore quite educational for me, it is not the most well written biography I have ever read. It is very simply written. While many authors of biography (most?) engage in various degrees of hagiography, the author in this case goes overboard in several instances. For example, it is quite clear and widely acknowledged that Humboldt was homosexual. He maintained numerous very close personal relationships with male colleagues and never expressed any interest in women. Nevertheless, the author states that Humboldt was not homosexual, because he said so. Gee, I wonder why Humboldt would deny his homosexuality? After all, homosexuality in the 19th century was widely accepted, right?
The author also inflates several of his accomplishments, which is totally unnecessary given his actual achievements. Because he hiked to the top of several dormant volcanoes in South America, he labels Humboldt the “most experienced” mountain climber of his age, an absurd characterization. Upon reaching the peak of such a mountain (17,000 feet), it is stated that no one on the earth had ever climbed so high. I would suspect that there were generations of Sherpas in the Himalayas that not only climbed so high, but possibly lived at such elevations. He credits Humboldt with developing the theory of climate change, which in my opinion is a stretch. He certainly pointed out the negative effects of such practices as deforestation and excessive irrigation, but only on a local level.
Humboldt certainly influenced a generation of naturalists and essentially founded the science of ecology and what later became environmentalism. He was a close friend of Goethe and Simon Bolivar, both of whom he greatly influenced. He mentored Charles Darwin and was an inspiration to such men as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Perkins Marsh and John Muir, who advanced his ground breaking world view into what has become the science of ecology and the environmentalism movement.
How could such a world famous and widely influential person be practically unknown in the United States? The author theorizes that because of his German heritage, his accomplishments were deemphasized due to the First and Second World Wars. In any event, his genius cannot be denied and his long term influence has to be regarded as among the greatest of the last 200 years.
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LibraryThing member rakerman
A life so extraordinary it is almost overwhelming.
LibraryThing member pierthinker
Alexander von Humboldt was a great scientist/explorer/author of the 18th and 19th centuries and was, in his day, one of the most famous men in Western civilisation. He undertook major expeditions through Latin America and through Russia and Siberia. He wrote and lectured constantly, his two great
Humboldt was one of the last great scientists able to work across almost all the fields of what can loosely be described as Earth science - geology, geography, biology, botany, oceanography, and the list goes on. He was almost certainly the first modern scientist to propose Gaia-like theories of the interconnectedness of the natural world and human activity. He was able to communicate both with his scientific peers through rigorous technical papers and with the general public with his major works. Many of the greatest scientists and naturalists of the 19th century acknowledged their debt to Humboldt in sparking their interest in their fields - Darwin took a copy of Humboldt with him on his Beagle voyages around South America.
Humboldt lived such a full and eventful life that any biography is in danger of being an extended appointment book full of facts and figures. Wulf goes much further than this and lays open for us the man himself with his friendships, enmities and relationship with his family.
This is a wonderful book that opens for a new age the amazing achievements of Humboldt and his contribution to modern science.
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works being the 34-volume ‘Voyage to the Equinoctial Region of the New Continent’ describing his travels in America and the 5-volume ‘Cosmos’, his attempt to bring together the physical world (from the stars to the Earth) and the development of the human mind from ancient Greece to the modern world.Humboldt was one of the last great scientists able to work across almost all the fields of what can loosely be described as Earth science - geology, geography, biology, botany, oceanography, and the list goes on. He was almost certainly the first modern scientist to propose Gaia-like theories of the interconnectedness of the natural world and human activity. He was able to communicate both with his scientific peers through rigorous technical papers and with the general public with his major works. Many of the greatest scientists and naturalists of the 19th century acknowledged their debt to Humboldt in sparking their interest in their fields - Darwin took a copy of Humboldt with him on his Beagle voyages around South America.
Humboldt lived such a full and eventful life that any biography is in danger of being an extended appointment book full of facts and figures. Wulf goes much further than this and lays open for us the man himself with his friendships, enmities and relationship with his family.
This is a wonderful book that opens for a new age the amazing achievements of Humboldt and his contribution to modern science.
Show Less
Awards
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — Biography — 2015)
Kirkus Prize (Finalist — Nonfiction — 2015)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Science & Technology — 2015)
Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize (Shortlist — 2016)
The Economist Best Books (2015.9)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Finalist — Nonfiction — 2016)
Cundill History Prize (Finalist — 2016)
Books Are My Bag Readers Award (Shortlist — Biography and Autobiography — 2016)
Bayerischer Buchpreis (2016)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Biography — 2015)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
The New York Times Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — Nonfiction — 2015)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
Physical description
576 p.; 5.21 inches
ISBN
0345806298 / 9780345806291
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 509.2 |