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A review by cutcamera
The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
3.0
What do the Humboldt Current along the western coast of South America, Humboldt Park in Chicago, Illinois, the Pico Humboldt in the Sierra Nevada de Merida, Venezuela and hundreds of other locations around the globe have in common? They’re all named after Alexander von Humboldt, naturalist, adventurer and historical hero.
In this long-winded telling of Alexander von Humboldt’s story, we’re taken through his life and adventures – both the exciting and the mundane. Humboldt traveled on four continents, wrote more than 36 books and was the first to promote an interconnectedness of nature, seeing it as one whole. He theorized the spreading of the continental landmasses through plate tectonics, mapped the distribution of plants on three continents, charted the way air and water move to create bands of climate at different latitudes and altitudes, observed how deforestation changed local climate, alluded to evolution and so much more. His works and theories influenced some of the brightest minds and most well-known thinkers of the era, including Darwin.
The book ends with a brief explanation of why we should care about him today, which is good because, despite how exciting Humboldt’s life was and how important his influence still is, you might wonder why you dedicated so much time to hearing his story when a lengthy article could have done the job just as well. With that said, I’m glad I took the time to find out who he was, and how important his impact and views were – I just wish I had learned about him in school.
In this long-winded telling of Alexander von Humboldt’s story, we’re taken through his life and adventures – both the exciting and the mundane. Humboldt traveled on four continents, wrote more than 36 books and was the first to promote an interconnectedness of nature, seeing it as one whole. He theorized the spreading of the continental landmasses through plate tectonics, mapped the distribution of plants on three continents, charted the way air and water move to create bands of climate at different latitudes and altitudes, observed how deforestation changed local climate, alluded to evolution and so much more. His works and theories influenced some of the brightest minds and most well-known thinkers of the era, including Darwin.
The book ends with a brief explanation of why we should care about him today, which is good because, despite how exciting Humboldt’s life was and how important his influence still is, you might wonder why you dedicated so much time to hearing his story when a lengthy article could have done the job just as well. With that said, I’m glad I took the time to find out who he was, and how important his impact and views were – I just wish I had learned about him in school.