Invention of Nature

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

hardcover

Published by John Murray Publishers Ltd.

ISBN:
978-1-84854-898-5
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5 stars (3 reviews)

4 editions

The Invention of Nature

5 stars

One of the minds born of the Age of Enlightenment was Alexander Von Humboldt. I didn't realise before reading this book how central he is to the way we think about nature and the world. Minds such as Darwin, John Muir, Thoreau, George Marsh, Earnest Haeckel (along with the Art Nouveau movement) and so on were directly influenced by his works and worldview. This worldview saw nature and humanity as a global intertwined system which can only be understood through a combination of great leaps of the imagination (the subjective and emotional experience) as well as hard data (the scientific, empirical and objective mind) together, a radical new theory for the time. I feel after reading this book I understand my passion and profession (I am an MSc earth science student) so much more, as well as the origins of my field. I feel university and the education system in …

Interesting!

4 stars

Although I do recommend the book, I can’t say I enjoyed reading all of it. Perhaps that's because the author’s intent is not to write a standard biography, but to explain how Humboldt’s views greatly influenced thinking in his own time and still today.

I found the first half to be much more interesting and involving as we followed Humboldt on his travels around the world, making scientific observations and developing his unique points of view about nature, ecology, history, and politics. The portions of the book where the author pivots toward other figures, showing how they responded to Humboldt’s ideas, were less intriguing to me.

Still, it’s a good read overall, especially if you enjoy historical non-fiction, as I do.

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