The Invention of Nature

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 A rollicking adventure story ... a fascinating history of ideas, in which Wulf leads us expertly along a series of colourful threads that emanate from the great tapestry of Humboldt's life and work ... What really fascinated me about The Invention of Nature is how relevant Humboldt's ideas are today ... Arriving in South America, Darwin took his first steps in the tropical forest and exclaimed: I formerly admired Humboldt, I now almost adore him . Readers of Wulf's marvellous new book may feel the same way Financial Times Wulf's telling of his life reads like a Who's Who of his age ... in its mission to rescue Humboldt's reputation from the crevasse he and many other German writers and scientists fell into after the Second World War, it succeeds Independent on Sunday Wulf's biography is a magnificent work of resurrection, beautifully researched, elegantly written, a thrilling intellectual odyssey Sunday Times Wulf's brilliant biography traces [Humboldt's] daring travels in South America and across the Andes, his sojourns in Berlin, Paris and London, and the intellectual circles he moved in Sunday Express Andrea Wulf is clearly as passionate about this remarkable man as his peers and successors were, and she does an impressive job of capturing the scale and scope of Humboldt's substantial achievements Press Association In a superb biography, Andrea Wulf makes an inspired case for Alexander von Humboldt to be considered the greatest scientist of the 19th century ... Ecologists today, Ms Wulf argues, are Humboldtians at heart. With the immense challenge of grasping the global consequences of climate change, Humboldt's interdisciplinary approach is more relevant than ever The Economist We all know who Darwin was because he came up with that memorable line about us all being descended from apes, but, as he himself would readily have admitted, the great man would never have arrived at his great theory had it not been for the very considerable influence of Alexander von Humboldt ... Given the magnitude of his influence, why Humboldt isn't a household name today is a mystery ... On the evidence of this wonderful book, however, he should be hastily added to every school syllabus in the land Scotsman Darwin pronounced him the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived, but the brilliant German Alexander von Humboldt left no groundbreaking theory or world-changing book. Wulf sets out to restore his diminished reputation, and has given us the most complete portrait of one of the world's most complete naturalists The Spectator Wulf's narrative relates Humboldt's life and ideas at a good pace and with a strong eye for the details which will attract the reader's attention TLS Wulf imbues Humboldt's adventures there with something of the spirit of Tintin, relishing the jungles, mountains and dangerous animals at every turn ... [she] has an unfailing ability to spot an interesting quotation or a curious situation. She is very good on the cities where Humboldt lived and the rival atmospheres of Paris and Berlin ... a superior celebration of an adorable figure Guardian This ambitious book restores Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of scientific history. The best chapters describe his exciting travels Lady Humboldt's vision became the inspiration for Darwin and a whole generation of American Romantics, including Thoreau and Poe. Humboldt, like Einstein, breathed life into Kant's transcendental unity. We still live in the world they imagined, even if few of us comprehend it Telegraph Wulf writes about complicated topics with lucidity and vitality. The Invention of Nature is a book of ideas, which repays careful reading. The intuitive yet systematising genius, courage and charm of Humboldt also make this a most inspiring book The Times