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. NATIONAL BEST SELLER One of the New York Times 10
Best Books of the Year 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. Olson Nature Writing Award Finalist 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 Award A 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 Spectator Alexander
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. 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. In North
America Humboldt's name still graces towns counties parks bays lakes mountains and a
river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten. 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. 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.
