The Invention of Nature

Posted on 05 October 2017 by Andrea Wulf

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 Alexander von Humboldt 1769 1859 was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age In North America, his name still graces four counties, thirteen towns, a river, parks, bays, lakes, and mountains His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether he was climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax infected Siberia or translating his research into bestselling publications that changed science and thinking Among Humboldt s most revolutionary ideas was a radical vision of nature, that it is a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone Now Andrea Wulf brings the man and his achievements back into focus his daring expeditions and investigation of wild environments around the world and his discoveries of similarities between climate and vegetation zones on different continents She also discusses 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 Sim n Bol var and Thomas Jefferson Wulf examines how Humboldt s writings inspired other naturalists and poets such as Darwin, Wordsworth, and Goethe, and she makes the compelling case that it was Humboldt s influence that led John Muir to his ideas of natural preservation and that shaped Thoreau s Walden With this brilliantly researched and compellingly written book, Andrea Wulf shows the myriad fundamental ways in which Humboldt created our understanding of the natural world, and she champions a renewed interest in this vital and lost player in environmental history and science.NATIONAL BEST SELLERShortlist Costa Biography AwardFinalist Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionFinalist Kirkus Reviews Prize for NonfictionAPublishers Weekly Best Book of the YearNew York Times 10 Best Books 2015 Download The Invention of Nature – kino-fada.fr This is a charming book, which has one of the highest achievements of any biographer it has introduced the reader to an unknown subject and truly convinced them, This person and their life are interesting Let me show you why Alexander von Humboldt had a full life He was one of the founders of modern biology and ecology, and had a direct effect on scientists and political leaders ranging from John Muir and Charles Darwin to Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolivar His expeditions led him through This is a charming book, which has one of the highest achievements of any biographer it has introduced the reader to an unknown subject and truly convinced them, This person and their life are interesting Let me show you why Alexander von Humboldt had a full life He was one of the founders of modern biology and ecology, and had a direct effect on scientists and political leaders ranging from John Muir and Charles Darwin to Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolivar His expeditions led him through Central and South America and Siberia A trip to India was forbidden by the British for fears that he would write something critical about their colonial rule Though the first trip was discovering what the natives knew already of course the Orinoco drains into...3.5 stars For me, this book was like Why Nations Fail, Guns, Germs, and Steel and Orlando Figes s The Whisperers a keystone narrative that linked up many formerly disparate threads of my personal reading Such books are rare pleasures I had always known that Alexander von Humboldt s story was a link missing from my general knowledge The praises of Oliver Sacks and Stephen Jay Gould alone told me as much But I didn t know this was generally due to anti German sentiment so powerful in th 3.5 stars For me, this boo...This is a wonderful biography of a man about whom I knew very little Today, in the United States, his name is practically unknown, despite being a world wide celebrity in his day Humboldt was a great explorer and scientist He saw nature as a unified whole, anorganism in which parts only worked in relation to each otherHis approach was holistic, and was entirely against the reductionist approach to science Perhaps because of the influence of Goethe, Humboldt strongly advocated merging of This is a wonderful biography of a man about whom I knew very little Today, in the United States, his name is practically unknown, despite being a world wide celebrity in his day Humboldt was a great explorer and scientist He saw nature as a unified whole, anorganism in which...Overall a nice book If I was giving star ratings then at times this book for me soared into five stars, at others it dredged through three star territory but because of the charm and vivacity and surprisingly upbeat approach to the book s subject I would not begrudge the book four stars and would generally encourage others to read it.However I feel that Wulf s mind was pregnant with two books and in this one, both are conjoined and stillborn There is the oddly optimistic and breezy book about Overall a nice book If I was giving star ratings then at times this book for me soared into five stars, at others it dredged through three star territory but because of the charm and vivacity and surprisingly upbeat approach to the book s subject I would not begrudge the book four stars and would generally encourage others to read it.However I feel that Wulf s mind was pregnant with two books and in this one, both are conjoined and stillborn There is the oddly optimistic and breezy book about Humboldt, then the serious if not dismal book about the development of ecology and ecological thinking branching off into conservation and environmental destruction The conjuncture of the two pulled the book into three star territory as structurally it meant that the Humboldt story fizzled out damply while the mini chapter length studies of how T...This biography of Alexander von Humboldt was a revelation and a fun ride for me This German scientist is credited with developing core concepts of ecology and documenting impacts of human development on the environment in early part of the 19th century Wulf, who studied history of design and has written previously on the history of horticulture, aims with this accessible and well illustrated account to rectify the near absence of recognition of Humboldt s accomplishments in U.S science educat This biography of Alexander von Humboldt was a revelation and a fun ride for me This German scientist is credited with developing core concepts of ecology and documenting impacts of...Alexander von Humboldt was the first to demonstrate the global unity and co dependence of plants, animals, land, sea and atmosphere In this way, he first posed the idea of what we come to view as nature.His beginnings may have been usual for the German upper classes of the time His wealthy but absent parents saw to an education that prepared him for a gentleman s career His eventual inheritance financed his expedition to South America Wulf shows the difficulty of planning the trip, getting Alexander von Humboldt was the first to demonstrate the global unity and co dependence of plants, animals, land, sea and atmosphere In this way, he first posed the idea of what we come to view as nature.His beginnings may have been usual for the German upper classes of the time His wealthy but absent parents saw to an education that prepared him for a gentleman s career His eventual inheritance financed his expedition to South America Wulf shows the difficulty of planning the trip, getting clearances as well as actually traveling, documenting, measuring, recording and observing an untamed environment His charmed life could ha...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 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 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 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 How the Romantic Generati...Not flawless for me the weakest chapter was on Humboldt and Thoreau , but endlessly fascinating Before there was Carl Sagan and his Cosmos, there was the great Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, and his Kosmos Why have we forgotten him Because he was German That would be depressing Because he did not invent one theory in a specific field, but a way of looking at the universe Possible, I think The former is easier to teach in school than the latter I don t know At any rate, Not flawless for me the weakest chapter was on Humboldt and Thoreau , but endlessly fascinating Before there was Carl Sagan and his Cosmos, there was the great Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, and his Kosmos Why have we forgotten him Because he was German That would be depressing Because he did not invent one theory in a specific field, but a way of looking at the universe Possible, I think The former is easier to teach in school than the latter I don t know At any r...Interesting and well written Filled with pertinent information, yet a bit long winded at times The book is not merely a biography covering the life of one man, Alexander von Humboldt 1769 1859 It starts with a description of the world he was born into Prussia, Pre Romanticism and the eminent philosophers, poets and writers of the time, i.e Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Immanuel Kant and Friedrich von Schiller, to name but a few Humboldt came to spend long hours with Goethe These prominen Interesting an...This book is now 1 on my list of favorite books of all time When I was 16 I was an unwavering atheist and became incredibly obsessed with my own personal holy trinity Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, and Edgar Allen Poe I loved Darwin s writing style and how he used facts over belief to understand the world Thoreau s depiction of the world was depressing and heartbreakingly beautiful, just the RX my confused teenage brain needed at that time It was a fantastic mindgasm to come to under This book is now 1 on my list of favorite books of all time When I was 16 I was an unwavering atheist and became incredibly obsessed with my own personal holy trinity Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, and Edgar Allen Poe I loved Darwin s writing style and how he used facts over belief to understand the world Thoreau s depiction of the world was depressing and heartbreakingly beautiful, just the RX my confused teenage brain needed at that time It was a fantastic mindgasm to come to understand how Thoreau felt himself outside of the world to a certain extent, while still being in it, so much so, that he saw its beauty so keenly and felt it on a visceral level Thoreau, to me, was almost a real life Zarathustra though I am not sure I would agree with my younger self about that any Poe simply excited me to my core Funny enough, I can only enjoy Darwin in my adulthood Both Thoreau ...

English
05 October 2017

Andrea Wulf