The Invention of Nature

Alexander von Humboldt's New World

De: Andrea Wulf

Narrado por: David Drummond

Duración: 14 h y 3 m

Resumen del Editor

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax-infested Siberia. He came up with a radical vision of nature, that it was a complex and interconnected global force and did not exist for man's use alone. Ironically, his ideas have become so accepted and widespread that he has been nearly forgotten.

Now Andrea Wulf brings the man and his achievements back into focus: his investigation of wild environments around the world; his discoveries of similarities between climate zones on different continents; 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 his writings inspired other naturalists and poets such as Wordsworth, Darwin, and Goethe, and she makes the compelling case that it was Humboldt's influence on John Muir that led him to his ideas of preservation and that shaped Thoreau's Walden.

Humboldt was the most interdisciplinary of scientists and is the forgotten father of environmentalism. With this brilliantly researched and compellingly written audiobook, she makes clear the myriad, fundamental ways that Humboldt created our understanding of the natural world.

©2015 Andrea Wulf. Recorded by arrangement with Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Poignant origin story

A good history of a the rise of the modern way of thinking about nature and its relationship to man. Wulf has clearly researched this exhaustively, and seems to have read every piece of correspondence between Humbolt and his fellow scientists. However, despite effectively depicting the subject's character, enthusiasm, and spirit, this text lacks some of what it describes. I found the final several chapters dragging, although it ends on a very high note with Humbolt's posthumous influence on the great John Muir.

In a sentence, it is far more a description of his effects than of the man himself, Initially presented as an adventurer naturalist, it turns out he spends 90% of his life bouncing around Europe and writing books, which are in turn read by people who we are more familiar with (Darwin, Lyell, Thoreau, Muir). Realistic, but not especially interesting.

At the same time, it serves as an important reminder of how man remains ignorant of his place on the planet. An important message.

Drummond is a good narrator, but at times seems to lack the excitement of the text. In fact, on some words he seems to be imitating Stephen Hawking's [computer's] syllabic pauses, most notable in the pronunciation of the word "nature". As a result...it comes up a lot. So you're reminded of it constantly.

A polymath extraordinaire!

Any additional comments?

This biography is a complete surprise. As the title suggests, Alexander von Humboldt (yes! inspiration for his eponymous cheese, Humboldt Fog!) kind of invented natural science. However, what I didn't realize, beyond the fact that he was Darwin's idol, was that he was so influential upon Walden, Thoreau, President Jefferson, and one of the original thinkers about global warming, social and economic equality being a key ingredient to peace, and, hang it all, isotherms! As all explorers seem to be, Humboldt was blessed with a vigorous physicality and intellectual capacity that allowed him to scale mountains and synthesize large amounts of information into novel theories. Handsome, vital to almost the last, he was a giant amongst European explorers, thinkers, scientists and discoverers. That he was insecure and an incurable social chatterbox both served and hindered him. For a surprisingly entertaining erudite experience, pick this book up. I really enjoyed it!

You need to listen to this book!

Listen, learn, and spread the word. This book is a brillant tale of adventure and about the history of conservation and ecology. We all are tied together in Nature and can learn to appreciate Nautre again. Go boldly and triumphantly.

Sublime book

Thoroughly enjoyable and so relevant today. Read like one of humboldts own writing - poetry and science combined. Throw in biographic sketches of explorers, artists, scientists and poets. A fabulous read. I found the narrator's voice a little monotonic but not disturbingly so.

Amazing how much influence one man can have

I loved this story. Humboldt is a name so many of us know but most know nothing about the man himself. His perspective influenced so many thinkers of the time, including Darwin, Thoreau and Muir. The writing style is a bit stiff but I enjoyed the story.

A Lively and Broad Book

A lively, world-spanning book of a European elite that adds to one's incomplete perspective.
In my case, it was not realizing that the observation of man's negative impact on the environment did not begin with Rachael Carson in 1962, but in 1799 with Humbolt. Also interesting were the post-mortem chapters on his legacy, beginning with Darwin and ending with the man who founded the Sierra Club in 1899.

Inspirational

Amazing to learn how much we have forgotten or have ignored. I am renewing my connection to nature.

wonderfully informative book

this was a fantastic book about a (tragically) less-known scientist. he was prescient and his contributions to science should render him equal status to Darwin.

Must listen again

Such an amazing time to have lived. So much info, that I'll have to listen again!

Great story

The book tells the story Von Humbolt’s life and the effect on how the world saw the universe verse from Charles Darwin to John Muir.