Why did I love this book?
This is the story of Alexander von Humboldt and how he influenced our views today about nature. It reveals a grand story hiding in plain sight—a chronicle of one man’s exercise of intellectual freedom that shaped the scientific and political views of Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Simon Bolivar, and Henry David Thoreau.
16 authors picked The Invention of Nature as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2016
'A thrilling adventure story' Bill Bryson
'Dazzling' Literary Review
'Brilliant' Sunday Express
'Extraordinary and gripping' New Scientist
'A superb biography' The Economist
'An exhilarating armchair voyage' GILES MILTON, Mail on Sunday
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist - more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there's a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon.
His colourful adventures read…