La esplendida biografia de Alexander von Humboldt, el heroe perdido de la ciencia y padre de la ecologia.

La invencion de la naturaleza revela la extraordinaria vida del visionario naturalista aleman Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) y como creo una nueva forma de entender la naturaleza.

Humboldt fue un intrepido explorador y el cientifico mas famoso de su epoca. Su agitada vida estuvo repleta de aventuras y descubrimientos: escalo los volcanes mas altos del mundo, remo por el Orinoco y recorrio una Siberia infestada de antrax. Capaz de percibir la naturaleza como una fuerza global interconectada, Humboldt descubrio similitudes entre distintas zonas climaticas de todo el mundo, y previo el peligro de un cambio climatico provocado por el hombre.

Convirtio la observacion cientifica en narrativa poetica, y sus escritos inspiraron no solo a naturalistas y escritores como Darwin, Wordsworth y Goethe, sino tambien a politicos como Jefferson o Simon Bolivar. Ademas, fueron las ideas de Humboldt las que llevaron a John Muir a perseverar en sus teorias, y a Thoreau a escribir su Walden. Wulf rastrea la influencia de Humboldt en las grandes mentes de su tiempo, a las que inspiro en ambitos como la revolucion, la teoria de evolucion, la ecologia, la conservacion, el arte y la literatura.

Una lectura que cobra importancia en el Dia mundial del medioambiente.

La invencion de la naturaleza esta entre los mejores libros del ano segun The New York Times, The Independent y Publishers Weekly entre otros.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world-and in the process created modern environmentalism.

NATIONAL BEST SELLER

One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The James Wright Award for Nature Writing, the Costa Biography Award, the Royal Geographic Society’s Ness Award, the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award

Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, the Kirkus Prize Prize for Nonfiction, the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, Nature, Jezebel, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New Scientist, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Spectator

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. In North America, Humboldt’s name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten.

In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simon Bolivar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism-and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.