First, though, he was going to climb Chimborazo – the crown of his obsession.
From Lima Humboldt hoped to find passage to Mexico, which he also wanted to explore. He still intended to travel to Lima, even though Captain Baudin wouldn’t be there. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.įive months after his arrival, Humboldt finally left Quito on 9 June 1802. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism-and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever. In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. And yet the man has been all but forgotten.
In North America, Humboldt’s name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. Olson Nature Writing Awardįinalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, the Kirkus Prize Prize for Nonfiction, the Independent Bookshop Week Book AwardĪ Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, Nature, Jezebel, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New Scientist, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The SpectatorĪlexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The James Wright Award for Nature Writing, the Costa Biography Award, the Royal Geographic Society's Ness Award, the Sigurd F. One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world-and in the process created modern environmentalism.
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