1237: 4/8 The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World, by Andrea Wulf

Published: Feb. 28, 2021, 2:28 a.m.

Image:  Alexander von Humboldt's System of Isothermal Curves, in Mercator's Projection The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World,by Andrea Wulf (https://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Wulf/e/B001HOE9U0/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1)   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 Simón Bolívar 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.  https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Nature-Alexander-Humboldts-World-ebook/dp/B00RKO0L3A     ·      Alexander von Humboldt was one of the most important figures in history in general and particularly in the history of natural sciences. He was one of the last universal scholars, and his contributions have been appreciated ever since. Even today. people are fascinated by his achievements as a natural scientist, explorer, researcher, adventurer, geologist and humanist. Von Humboldt is widely recognized as the founder of modern regional studies. He explored the then-unknown Central American countries, studied the geographical distribution of plants for an entire continent and started the popularization of science. In doing so, he anticipated an ecological view of nature and an understanding of the impact of technology on society. From the beginning, von Humboldt attempted to understand, reflect and explain nature as a whole. Therefore, his famous volume Kosmosbears the subtitle ‘Outline of a physical survey of the World’. If nothing else, this work was the result of his almost unbelievable enthusiasm to devote his life to the study and interpretation of nature regardless of the necessary effort and exertion required. From his childhood days, von Humboldt felt the urge to travel to faraway regions and countries seldom visited by other Europeans. He wanted to visit and explore Asia, particularly India, and then Siberia, and the New World, so that he could compare the Andes with the Himalayas, the Venezuelan Llanos with the Siberian steppes. Unfortunately, he was prevented from going to India. But a quarter of a century after finishing his journey to America (1799–1804) he received an offer from the Russian minister of finance, Count Georg of Cancrin, to lead a nine-month expedition through the Russian empire. The expedition started out in April 1829 accompanied by the mineralogist Gustav Rose and the botanist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. In late December von Humboldt returned to Germany. Not only had the team covered a distance of 19 000 kilometres but they had also made a wealth of invaluable scientific discoveries. At the same time, relationships were established with Russia that proved very favourable for subsequent explorers. Since 1993, the German Association of Graduates and Friends of Moscow Lomonosow University (DAMU) has been active in reviving traditional Russian-German relationships by recalling and acknowledging German explorers and researchers in Russia. To date, five excursions following von Humboldt's footsteps into Russia have taken place.   Gustav Rose’s book in English:  https://www.amazon.com/Humboldts-Travels-Siberia-1837-1842-Gemstones/dp/0945005172