Inventarea naturii

Andrea Wulf tells the life of Alexander von Humboldt. She traces his trips and ideas. He sailed the Orinoco and crossed the Andes. He also explored Siberia. These trips posed great risks and made huge demands. He wrote at length and helped change natural science.

This life story blends travel tales with the history of ideas. It suits readers drawn to science and trips of discovery. It also shows their wider impact. Wulf shows how his work helped give rise to ecology. This is the study of how living things relate to their world. She traces his reach into social and political thought, too. His ideas changed how people saw nature and their place in it.

Humboldt spent time in South American jungles and Western salons. Goethe and Schiller were his friends. So were Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson. In his day, only Napoleon had greater fame. Towns, rivers and animal species now bear his name. So do an ocean current and a lunar sea.

This edition forms part of the Sapiens series. It is a translation of Wulf’s work.