The Invention of Nature

Deeply researched biography, following this influential European naturalist doing mostly things you'd expect: heroically adventuring through the Americas, taking the rest of his life to write and influence other scientists and artists and politicians (Goethe, Simon Bolivar, Charles Darwin, and John Muir all get space here), and mostly not worrying about money or relationships. And yet this is well told, and the central thesis rings through that Humboldt's realizations and advocacy about the interconnected global phenomenon of life and distribution of species and ecosystems and colonial practices impact on diversity have all dispersed so thoroughly into our world by those who were his fans that we've nearly forgotten Humboldt. A fine hope for us all.

Although I do recommend the book, I can’t say I enjoyed reading all of it. Perhaps that's because the author’s intent is not to write a standard biography, but to explain how Humboldt’s views greatly influenced thinking in his own time and still today.

I found the first half to be much more interesting and involving as we followed Humboldt on his travels around the world, making scientific observations and developing his unique points of view about nature, ecology, history, and politics. The portions of the book where the author pivots toward other figures, showing how they responded to Humboldt’s ideas, were less intriguing to me.

Still, it’s a good read overall, especially if you enjoy historical non-fiction, as I do.

Living in Berlin, Humboldt is omnipresent. I vaguely knew he was a scientist, maybe an early ecologist, but that was about it. Having read this book, I not only know who he was and what he did, but I also have a very strong sense of what he was like as a person. I enjoyed that I got a sense of how he fit together with other historical figures, too - Goethe, Napolean, de Bolivar, Jefferson. The last few chapters about the people he influenced were pretty great, as well - Darwin, Thoreau, Haeckel, Muir. His way of seeing the world has been passed down to me, it seems so obvious, like the air I breathe. Everything is connected. I had never really considered reading his books before, now I would like to.