Andrea Wulf's 'Alexander von Humboldt's New World': Exploring the German Naturalist's Impact on the Americas

I. S. GlendinningI. S. Glendinning: Whether you knew of Humboldt before or not, you will have seen his name attached to countless geographical locations and biological species. The amount of travel he did and the number and range of people that he and his writings influenced is mind boggling. From Napoleonic and Prussian Europe through the revolutionary Americas north (Jefferson) and south (Bolivar) not to mention Siberian Russia and Charles Darwin. Seems certain his being ignored by most 20th C science is a combination of his being Prussian / Germanic at the wrong time, and that his otherwise objective science was very much supplemented by a romantic / transcendental valuation of subjective emotional experience as per Goethe, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Thoreau and the like. He was however, ahead of his time in understanding human-ecological fragility as well as the empirical sciences of biology and geography . The only criticism would be that the author / editor / publisher had too much of a 21st C eco-agenda in promoting his undoubted heroism. Recommended.

United Kingdom on Oct 02, 2023

H. Baltussen: A splendid account of Alexander von Humboldt and his importance for the environmental movement. Well informed and elegantly written.

Australia on Sep 21, 2023

Emine Noyan: This is a beautifully written book about Humboldt and how his discoveries and view of nature influenced science, literature, and poetry throughout Europe and beyond. It's eye-opening to learn about how one man, one idea can have a ripple effect and influence so many things, even start a revolution. I would recommend this book to nature lovers, scientists, poets, writers, bookworms, gardeners...

United Kingdom on Aug 31, 2023

verce: Mi aspettavo un libro noioso e invece devo dire che il racconto è steso veramente bene
Mostra i legami tra Humboldt e tutte le personalità importanti del suo tempo
L'ultima parte post morte è un po una divagazione e poteva essere evitata

Italy on Aug 24, 2023

ACT I: This biography of AH also contains important information about individuals who influenced his thought, (such as Johann Friedrich Blumenbach [1752- 1840], Friedrich Schelling [1755 -1854], Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [1749 – 1832]), as well as individuals whose thought he influenced (such as Charles Darwin [1809 - 1882], Henry David Thoreau [1817 - 1862], George Perkins Marsh [1801 - 1882], and (Sierra Club co-founder) John Muir [1828 - 1914]. The book is based mainly on primary sources, and in being well-written is engaging!

Ms. Wulf wishes to make two points in particular about AH’s importance. First, as AH stood at the top of Mt. Chimborazo (south of Quito, in what is now Ecuador), he (p. 2) “began to see the world differently. He saw the earth as one great living organism where everything was connected, conceiving a bold new vision of nature that still influences the way that we understand the natural world.” In addition, though, because (p. 3) AH was “driven by a sense of wonder,” AH “also believed that a great part of our response to the natural world should be based on the senses and emotions.”

AH (p. 6) “invented the web of life [concept], the...

United States on Jul 01, 2017

AmazonCustomer: The book was recommended by a friend, who tremendously enjoyed reading it. I must admit, I was slightly dismayed by the tightly packed script when the book arrived, portending a prodigious read. Any such thoughts were quickly dispelled as soon as I started reading this lucidly written, extremely informative, well researched, sensitive biography on Alexander von Humboldt. Andrea Wulf has undoubtedly produced a masterpiece, a symphony of a book.

Humboldt was a giant of an intellectual, a visionary generations ahead of his time, the father, mother and grandparent of modern environmentalism and theories on climate change, a biologist, a naturalist, an explorer, adventurer, a writer, a generous mentor for budding scientists. His original pathbreaking views from the eighteenth and nineteenth century have shaped modern day perception of the environment, underpinned green politics, embracing a holistic vision of mankind, material progress, nature, politics, art, history under one umbrella.
His expeditions to discover the secrets of nature took him to the Latin America, America, Russia, exotic islands in the Atlantic, Cuba, Mongolia, China. His biggest regret remained that the...

Germany on Sep 25, 2016

Ashutosh S. Jogalekar: If I ask my learned friends to make a list of the top ten scientists in history, Alexander von Humboldt probably won't figure on the list; he probably wouldn't have figured on my own. And yet when he was alive, for a while Humboldt was the most famous scientist in the world. Thousands thronged to hear him speak, and the most distinguished personalities of the age visited him at his home in Paris and Berlin. He was a polymath in the true sense, excelling in science, philosophy, writing and adventure. He also laid the foundations for modern environmentalism and inspired scores of later writers and naturalists, including Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh and John Muir. Dozens of streets, mountains, forests, universities and scholarships around the world are named after him.

Andrew Wulf has written an excellent biography of this remarkable mind which secures Humboldt’s place both as a brilliant scientist and explorer and as one of the founding fathers of modern environmentalism. It would not be off the mark to say that he paved the way for Darwin and natural selection. He was born in Prussia in 1769, when Europe was starting to crackle with reform and...

United States on Feb 01, 2016