Absolutely fascinating - a book for today.

If you could sum up The Invention of Nature in three words, what would they be?

Pertinent ecological history

What other book might you compare The Invention of Nature to, and why?

None

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Oh dear - this is where the criticism comes in, on what is otherwise an excellent book.
Firstly the positive - the narrator is very clear in his diction, which is good.
I don't like American accents generally, but they are not a problem for me normally. But the narrator has some really strange pronunciations, which I am sure are not "standard" American English. "Himalya" for the Himalaya is bad enough, but with a common word like "Parisian" I was driven to distraction.
Also there was not really sufficient feeling in the narrator's work - he was just narrating.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The early chapters, when Humbolt was carrying out his explorations of South America, were by far the most interesting - it was fascinating to hear that issues such as climate change were being considered two hundred years ago, when many of today's politicians remain unconvinced.

Any additional comments?

I would certainly recommend this. I am not of a scientific bent, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would have enjoyed it more with a better chosen narrator.

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5 people found this helpful

Excellent and a revelation

What made the experience of listening to The Invention of Nature the most enjoyable?

Wonderfully read and so inspiring about someone who was so famous in his time but is relatively unknown now.

What did you like best about this story?

Humboldt is such an inspiring and energetic person with such passion for our world.

What does David Drummond bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Wonderfully read - so easy and pleasant to listen to. He added such life to the story without imposing his own personality.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes - a real empathy with Humboldt and what he stood for.

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Full qnd insightful

Expansive and detailed review of Humbolt, his life and inspirational influence. A learned and useful vook as well as engaging and emotional at times.

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Seems to tie together not only science, but history too. Fascinating

I rarely read biographies & I normally find C18 European history very dull. But this book has awakened my interest. Most amazing fact about Humbolt (in my opinion): the huge number of gigantic ally famous people he met, indeed was acquainted with. A real science adventure story. But then ... Humbolt himself gets into a slightly shambling old age, & so does this book. There's a long tail, with mini-biographies of some of the main people influenced by Humbolt. That's still interesting but ... Well, less so.

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7 people found this helpful

I learned a lot

Very intersting book, well researched. I did not know much about von Humboldt and bought this to listen to in the car with my husband. He knew more than me (he's a scientist) but the book kept him enthralled too. Well written, wel read, what more can you ask?

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Investment of nature

Excellent true story, informative, interesting and compelling. I have enjoyed listening to it twice over. Surprisingly ahead of his time and already aware of the damage humanity causes

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Humboldt ‘read’ plants as others did books

and to him they revealed a global force behind nature, the movements of civilizations as well as of landmass. No one had ever approached botany in this way.”
Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World


This is a fascinating book that rekindles the love of knowledge and nature, that explains some of the ideas and concepts thru which we see nature in this present time. A rediscovery of a man that pollinated the world with ideas that are still battling with religion's dogma that sees nature as subservient to man's needs to one where we are part of nature and indivisible from its processes and that we need to save nature before it's too late for humanity.

“The effects of the human species’ intervention were already ‘incalculable’, Humboldt insisted, and could become catastrophic if they continued to disturb the world so ‘brutally’. Humboldt would see again and again how humankind unsettled the balance of nature.”
― Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World

Unlike most biographies this book presents how the work Alexander von Humboldt reverberated thru the thinkers of his time and how those waves are still lapping on our world and expanding beyond his name. Without an army or power he has influenced more of our world outlook than most figures from his time. He stood firm on his beliefs and and defended them even when inconvenient or financially imprudent (can you say that of many other human beings?). He opposed slavery and argued for equality for all and stood his ground with kings and dictators alike. He helped young scientist financially when he had no finances, he believed in a holistic approach to learning, appreciating the world for all it's beauty; art and sciences were one and the same to him .

“Knowledge, Humboldt believed, had to be shared, exchanged and made available to everybody.”
― Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World

I need to read this book several more times to truly appreciate all the information in it. It reminded me how much I loved going out and observing nature as a child, walking in the Andes, looking for fossils seeing every rock as a message from the past a proof of life printed on a stone, looking at beetles and spiders without time, full of curiosity, sleeping on top of a hill face up floating on the world my chest almost touching the stars. Drinking cool water from springs and tasting the difference, loving it all, being part of it.
Any book that makes you feel that again is worth reading and sharing and perhaps that repercussion will spread a new love and respect for Nature, or a way to save it from ourselves.

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11 people found this helpful

More relevant than ever before

aA powerful message and brilliant telling of humboldt's adventures and publications. ecology and environment thinking that leaps out the speakers and into your mind. i challenge you to listen and not come out with a refreshed and renewed vigour to help the advancement of environmental science.

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1 person found this helpful

An extraordinary life of an extraordinary man.

Andrea Wolf has done a stunning job in re-introducing Alexander von Humboldt to the English speaking world. It is an incredible story of a brilliant man whose profound insights continue to be hugely relevant. An utterly amazing scientific mind matched by a penetrating artistic sensibility.
Wonderful.

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Recommend

Well written, well researched. Comprehensive. I would listen to it twice. A person who is quite forgotten although in parts copied by Darwin.

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