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Good Reads  Natural History  Biography, Exploration & Travel

The Invention of Nature The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science

Biography / Memoir
By: Andrea Wulf(Author)
481 pages, 8 plates with colour illustrations; b/w photos, b/w illustrations
Publisher: John Murray
NHBS
A delightful biography that paints a lively portrait of this ever-restless polymath, showing he was a force of nature.
The Invention of Nature
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  • The Invention of Nature ISBN: 9781848549005 Paperback Mar 2016 In stock
    £14.99
    #228641
  • The Invention of Nature ISBN: 9781848548985 Hardback Oct 2015 Out of Print #222392
Selected version: £14.99
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About this book

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist: more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there's a penguin, a giant squid – even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon.

His colourful adventures read like something out of a Boy's Own story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world's highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scientists and poets alike. Napoleon was jealous of him; Simon Bolívar's revolution was fuelled by his ideas; Darwin set sail on the Beagle because of Humboldt; and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo owned all his many books. He simply was, as one contemporary put it, 'the greatest man since the Deluge'.

Taking us on a fantastic voyage in his footsteps – racing across anthrax-infected Russia or mapping tropical rivers alive with crocodiles – Andrea Wulf shows why his life and ideas remain so important today. Humboldt predicted human-induced climate change as early as 1800, and The Invention of Nature traces his ideas as they go on to revolutionize and shape science, conservation, nature writing, politics, art and the theory of evolution. He wanted to know and understand everything and his way of thinking was so far ahead of his time that it's only coming into its own now. Alexander von Humboldt really did invent the way we see nature.

Customer Reviews (1)

  • A lively portrait of this force of nature
    By Leon (NHBS Catalogue Editor) 11 Feb 2025 Written for Paperback


    There are many famous scholars that I only know by name, so, lately, I have been developing a taste for science biographies. With the publication last month of Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography, he was the next scholar to come onto my radar. However, I felt I could not do this subject justice without also considering Andrea Wulf's highly-regarded 2015 biography The Invention of Nature, which won a slew of prizes and nominations.

    Born in Prussia (today's Germany did not yet exist), Alexander von Humboldt (1769—1859) was born to a wealthy family as the younger of two sons. Age 9 his father died, age 27 his mother. Liberated from their vision of a conventional career (he had trained as a mining inspector), and now in possession of a large inheritance, he pursued what he is best remembered for: a five-year exploration of the Americas (1799–1804). In true polymath fashion, he ranged across disciplines, collecting observations on, amongst others, zoology, botany, geography, history, agriculture, and politics. He spent two decades in Paris, turned his journey into influential books, and became an intellectual rock star. All the while he was supported by the Prussian king Wilhelm Friedrich III on a generous chamberlain's pension, no strings attached; until of course there were and he was recalled to Berlin in 1827. Though his plans to explore the Himalayas never came to fruition, he remained ever-restless and, age 59, convinced tsar Nicholas I to finance a journey across Russia. Returning to Berlin with yet more ideas and observations, he continued writing and lecturing and, age 65, hit on the madcap idea to write a book, Kosmos, that would represent the whole material world. Taking a decade to complete, it became a bestseller. Realising he had yet more to say, it spawned four follow-up volumes that consumed the remainder of his life until his death age 89.

    Above facts are remarkable enough, and Wulf follows a strategy of taking notable episodes from his life and elaborating on them in lively detail in this chunky, 473-page book. But, given that I just wrote that biographies are more than statements of facts, I want to highlight three noticeable aspects.

    First is Humboldt's character. Wulf does not have to psychoanalyse him as his contemporaries already did some of that. Correspondence between his brother Wilhelm and his brother's wife Caroline explains Alexander's unhappy childhood. He was forever possessed of wanderlust, desiring strongly to travel and explore. His journey through Russia in old age was a revitalizing experience, especially once he defied the authorities by going off-piste in a well-told episode that had me pealing with laughter at his audacity. He was notoriously restless and talked at "race-horse speed" (p. 19, quoting Caroline), jumping from subject to subject. Both Goethe and Jefferson wrote they learned more from talking to Humboldt for several hours than from reading books for several years. He generously supported other scholars, explorers, and artists but was hopeless with money—Caroline feared some took advantage of him. He never married, nor had romantic affairs with women, though he had plenty of suitors. Instead, he developed intense friendships with other men in serial fashion, declaring passionate feelings for them in his letters.

    The second noteworthy facet is Humboldt's prescience. Wulf repeatedly argues he was visionary and far ahead of his time. This showed in his political views: he spoke out against slavery his whole life and was supportive of revolutions against oppressive regimes, though he ultimately tired of politics as many revolutions came to nought. It especially showed in his scientific ideas. His ascent of Mount Chimborazo in today's Ecuador is credited with giving him the insight that everything in nature is connected, "conceiving a bold new vision [...] that still influences the way that we understand the natural world" (p. 2). At a time when botany was all about taxonomy, he saw connections with climate and geography and grouped plants into vegetation zones. Observing Spanish colonial practices, he warned that deforestation and irrigation could affect the climate. Seeing the impacts of other forms of resource extraction, he connected the dots and warned that: "The action of humankind across the globe [...] could affect future generations" (p. 58). And with that, Wulf concludes, "he unwittingly became the father of the environmental movement" (p. 58). As will become apparent in the next review, not everyone agrees with sweeping statements of this sort.

    The third noteworthy facet is Humboldt's influence. Eight out of the book's 23 chapters discuss famous people he influenced. This encompasses both close friends to the young Humboldt (Goethe, Bolívar, and Jefferson), and these chapters are as much about them as about Humboldt. Fair enough, but I struggled more with the second group. These people were younger than Humboldt and (except Darwin) never met him, making these chapters mini-biographies of other people. Using a show-don't-tell approach, Wulf does not merely tell us Humboldt was influential, she shows us how their diaries, letters, and books explicitly mentioned him. It is easily the most divisive aspect of the book. On the one hand, I felt it reiterated the theme of connectedness: Humboldt himself was deeply interconnected with others, influencing and being influenced by them. On the other hand, the end of the book started to feel like too many tangents. Humboldt's death in chapter 20 is surrounded by five chapters on Darwin, Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, Haeckel, and Muir. I had to remind myself I was reading a biography of Humboldt.

    I furthermore want to give Wulf props for the endnotes. She opens with four pages of abbreviations to all the sources she has consulted: correspondence, letters, notebooks, and diaries held in library collections, plus Humboldt's numerous books. This in turn allows her to then give you 82 pages of *condensed* endnotes. These meticulously document everything, often providing 5–10 endnotes per page of text. It evidences an impressive amount of background research and you would be hard-pressed to accuse her of making unsubstantiated claims.

    Overall, despite its digressions, I found The Invention of Nature a hugely enjoyable book that gives a multifaceted portrait of Humboldt's character, his ideas, and his impact. Wulf presents her in-depth research in a captivating narrative, and it is easy to see why the book received so many accolades. As the next review shows, some cast doubt on the claim that Humboldt was the inventor of nature, but Wulf convinces that this ever-restless polymath certainly was a force of nature.
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Biography

Andrea Wulf was born in India, moved to Germany as a child, and now lives in England. She is the author of several acclaimed books. The Brother Gardeners won the American Horticultural Society Book Award and was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Her book Founding Gardeners was on the New York Times bestseller list. Andrea has written for many newspapers including the Guardian, LA Times and New York Times. She was the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence 2013 and a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. She appears regularly on TV and radio.

Biography / Memoir
By: Andrea Wulf(Author)
481 pages, 8 plates with colour illustrations; b/w photos, b/w illustrations
Publisher: John Murray
NHBS
A delightful biography that paints a lively portrait of this ever-restless polymath, showing he was a force of nature.
Media reviews

"A big, magnificent, adventurous book – so vividly written and daringly researched – a geographical pilgrimage and an intellectual epic! Brilliant, surprising, and thought-provoking [...] a major achievement"
– Richard Holmes, author of The Age of Wonder and Coleridge

"A truly wonderful book [...] Andrea Wulf has told the tale with such brio, such understanding, such depth. The physical journeyings, all around South America when it was virtually terra incognita, are as exciting as the journeys of Humboldt's mind into astronomy, literature, philosophy and every known branch of science. This is one of the most exciting intellectual biographies I have ever read, up there with Lewes's Goethe and Ray Monk's Wittgenstein"
– A.N. Wilson

"Andrea Wulf's marvellous book should put this captivating eighteenth century German scientist, traveller and opinion-shaper back at the heart of the way we look at the world [...] irresistible and consistently absorbing life of a man whose discoveries have shaped the way we see"
– Miranda Seymour, author of Noble Endeavours: A History of England and Germany

"Andrea Wulf is a writer of rare sensibilities and passionate fascinations. I always trust her to take me on unforgettable journeys through amazing histories of botanical exploration and scientific unfolding. Her work is wonderful, her language sublime, her intelligence unflagging"
– Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love

"Engrossing [...] Wulf successfully combines biography with an intoxicating history of his times"
Kirkus

"Extraordinary, and often still sadly relevant too"
Wanderlust

"The phrase 'lost hero of science' in the subtitle of [Wulf's] book is no exaggeration [...] A big book about a big subject, written with scholarship and enthusiasm"
Irish Examiner

|In her coruscating account, historian Andrea Wulf reveals an indefatigable adept of close observation with a gift for the long view"
Nature

"[A] gripping study [...] No one who reads this brilliant book is likely to forget Humboldt"
New Scientist

"This book sets out to restore Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of natural scientists. In the process Wulf does a great deal more. This meticulously researched work – part biography, part cabinet of curiosity – takes us on an exhilarating armchair voyage through some of the world's least hospitable regions"
– Giles Milton, Mail on Sunday

"Thrilling [...] It is impossible to read The Invention of Nature without contracting Humboldt fever. Wulf makes Humboldtians of us all [...] At times The Invention of Nature reads like pulp explorer fiction [...] She has gone to near-Humboldtian lengths to research her book"
New York Review of Books

"Engrossing [...] Andrea Wulf magnificently recreates Humboldt's dazzling, complex personality and the scope of his writing"
Wall Street Journal

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