Andrea Wulf

From the best-selling author of The Invention of Nature comes an exhilarating story about a remarkable group of young rebels--poets, novelists, philosophers--who, through their epic quarrels, passionate love stories, heartbreaking grief, and radical ideas launched Romanticism onto the world stage, inspiring some of the greatest thinkers of the time.When did we begin to be as self-centered as we are today? At what point did we expect to have the right to determine our own lives? When did we first ask the question, How can I be free? It all began in a quiet university town in Germany in the 1790s, when a group of playwrights, poets, and writers put the self at center stage in their thinking, their writing, and their lives. This brilliant circle included the famous poets Goethe, Schiller, and Novalis; the visionary philosophers Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel; the contentious Schlegel brothers; and, in a wonderful cameo, Alexander von Humboldt. And at the heart of this group was the formidable Caroline Schlegel, who sparked their dazzling conversations about the self, nature, identity, and freedom. The French revolutionaries may have changed the political landscape of Europe, but the young Romantics incited a revolution of the mind that transformed our world forever. We are still empowered by their daring leap into the self, and by their radical notions of the creative potential of the individual, the highest aspirations of art and science, the unity of nature, and the true meaning of freedom. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfillment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our responsibilities toward our community and future generations. At the heart of this inspiring book is the extremely modern tension between the dangers of selfishness and the thrilling possibilities of free will.

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 SELLEROne of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the YearA Best Book of the Year: The Economist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus ReviewsShortlist -- Costa Biography AwardFinalist -- Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionFinalist -- Kirkus Reviews Prize for Nonfiction Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. In North America, his name still graces four counties, thirteen towns, a river, parks, bays, lakes, and mountains. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether he was climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax-infected Siberia or translating his research into bestselling publications that changed science and thinking. Among Humboldt’s most revolutionary ideas was a radical vision of nature, that it is a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. Now Andrea Wulf brings the man and his achievements back into focus: his daring expeditions and investigation of wild environments around the world and his discoveries of similarities between climate and vegetation zones on different continents. She also discusses his prediction of human-induced climate change, his remarkable ability to fashion poetic narrative out of scientific observation, and his relationships with iconic figures such as Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson. Wulf examines how Humboldt’s writings inspired other naturalists and poets such as Darwin, Wordsworth, and Goethe, and she makes the compelling case that it was Humboldt’s influence that led John Muir to his ideas of natural preservation and that shaped Thoreau’s Walden. With this brilliantly researched and compellingly written book, Andrea Wulf shows the myriad fundamental ways in which Humboldt created our understanding of the natural world, and she champions a renewed interest in this vital and lost player in environmental history and science.From the Hardcover edition.

A groundbreaking look at the Founding Fathers and their obsession with gardening, agriculture, and botany by the author of Magnificent Rebels and New York Times bestseller The Invention of Nature. • “Illuminating and engrossing.” — The New York Times Book ReviewFor the Founding Fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were elemental a conjoined interest as deeply ingrained in their characters as the battle for liberty and a belief in the greatness of their new nation.Founding Gardeners is an exploration of that obsession, telling the story of the revolutionary generation from the unique perspective of their lives as gardeners, plant hobbyists, and farmers. Acclaimed historian Andrea Wulf describes how George Washington wrote letters to his estate manager even as British warships gathered off Staten Island; how a tour of English gardens renewed Thomas Jefferson’s and John Adams’s faith in their fledgling nation; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of environmentalism. Through these and other stories, Wulf reveals a fresh, nuanced portrait of the men who created our nation.

One January morning in 1734, cloth merchant Peter Collinson hurried down to the docks at London’s Custom House to collect cargo just arrived from John Bartram, his new contact in the American colonies. But it was not reels of wool or bales of cotton that awaited him, but plants and seeds…Over the next forty years, Bartram would send hundreds of American species to England, where Collinson was one of a handful of men who would foster a national obsession and change the gardens of Britain forever, introducing lustrous evergreens, fiery autumn foliage and colourful shrubs. They were men of wealth and taste but also of knowledge and experience like Philip Miller, author of the bestselling Gardeners Dictionary, and the Swede Carl Linnaeus, whose standardised botanical nomenclature popularised botany as a genteel pastime for the middle-classes; and the botanist-adventurer Joseph Banks and his colleague Daniel Solander who both explored the strange flora of Tahiti and Australia on the greatest voyage of discovery of modern times, Captain Cook’s Endeavour.This is the story of these men – friends, rivals, enemies, united by a passion for plants – whose correspondence, collaborations and squabbles make for a riveting human tale which is set against the backdrop of the emerging empire, the uncharted world beyond and London as the capital of science. From the scent of the exotic blooms in Tahiti and Botany Bay to the gardens at Chelsea and Kew, and from the sounds and colours of the streets of the City to the staggering vistas of the Appalachian mountains, The Brother Gardeners tells the story of how Britain became a nation of gardeners.

The author of the highly acclaimed Founding Gardeners now gives us an enlightening chronicle of the first truly international scientific endeavor—the eighteenth-century quest to observe the transit of Venus and measure the solar system. On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous the first transit of Venus between the earth and the sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system—but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in remote corners of the world, only to have their efforts thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in eight years later, the scientists would have another opportunity to succeed. Chasing Venus brings to life the personalities of the eighteenth-century astronomers who embarked upon this complex and essential scientific venture, painting a vivid portrait of the collaborations, the rivalries, and the volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. In the end, what they accomplished would change our conception of the universe and would forever alter the nature of scientific research.

Alexander von Humboldt fue un intrépido explorador y el científico más famoso de su época. Su agitada vida estuvo repleta de aventuras y descubrimientos. Esta es la historia de su viaje al corazón de la naturaleza.De la autora del best seller del New York Times: La invención de la naturaleza, llega un relato increíblemente ilustrado y evocador de la expedición de cinco años de Alexander von Humboldt por América del Sur.Ahora Andrea Wulf se asocia con la artista Lillian Melcher para dar vida a esta audaz expedición, completa con extractos de los diarios, atlas y publicaciones de Humboldt. Ella nos da un retrato íntimo del hombre que predijo el cambio climático inducido por los humanos, elaboró ​​una narrativa poética a partir de la observación científica e influyó en figuras icónicas como Simón Bolívar, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin y John Muir.

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) sündis ajal, kui inimeste püüdlused olid suunatud looduse allutamisele – maad võideti metsiku looduse käest ja pandi inimese teenistusse, metsi raiuti seninägematu kiirusega ning maavarasid kasutati ulatuslikumalt kui kunagi varem.Väsimatu ränduri ja vaatlejana jagas Humboldt oma tähelepanekuid looduse seaduspärasuste ja inimtegevuse tagajärgede kohta arvukate teadustööde ja raamatute vahendusel kogu maailmaga. Oma eluajal saavutas ta sedavõrd suure kuulsuse, et ajaloolased peavad tedatolleaegse Euroopa üheks kõige kuulsamaks inimeseks üldse. Lühivisiidiga Tartu ülikooli 1829. aasta kevadel suutis ta ka siinset teaduselu korralikult ergutada.Andrea Wulfi rohkelt auhindu võitnud (sh 2016. aasta Londoni Kuningliku Ühingu teadusraamatu aastapreemia) ning New York Timesi ja Spiegeli bestselleriks tõusnud teose esimene osa annab särava ülevaate Humboldti noorusest, kujunemisest ja esimesest suurest ekspeditsioonist Lõuna-Ameerikasse.

Andrea Wulfi rohkelt auhindu võitnud teose teine osa keskendub Humboldti Venemaa-ekspeditsioonile ja hilisemale elukäigule. Palju tähelepanu pöörab autor sellele, kuidas Humboldti tõekspidamised ja avastused mõjutasid teisi silmapaistvaid loodusteadlasi.Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) sündis ajal, kui inimeste püüdlused olid suunatud looduse allutamisele – maad võideti metsiku looduse käest ja pandi inimese teenistusse, metsi raiuti seninägematu kiirusega ning maavarasid kasutati ulatuslikumalt kui kunagi varem.Humboldt oli väsimatu rändur ja vaatleja, kes oma tähelepanekuid looduse seaduspärasuste ja inimtegevuse tagajärgede kohta arvukate teadustööde ja raamatute vahendusel kogu maailmaga jagas. Oma eluajal saavutas ta sedavõrd suure kuulsuse, et ajaloolased peavad teda tolleaegse Euroopa üheks kõige kuulsamaks inimeseks üldse. Lühivisiidiga Tartu ülikooli 1829. aasta kevadel suutis ta ka siinset teaduselu korralikult ergutada.

The Traveller spreads out before us the life and times of George Forster, who journeyed to the far reaches of the known world, and whose radical ideas about humanity, equality and freedom challenged the worldviews of eighteenth-century Europe.Andrea Wulf paints a picture of a man of profound curiosity and brilliance. He joined Cook’s second voyage at the age of seventeen, an exploration of vast contrasts from the icy world of Antarctica to tropical islands of the South Pacific. Studying the diverse nature, peoples and cultures he encountered, he came back imbued with a deep belief in the equality of races – an understanding far ahead of his time. On his return he was feted in England, France, Germany and Poland, using his fame to advocate for freedom and women’s rights and against empire, racism and slavery. Wulf traces how Forster – inspired by the French Revolution – became a leader of the short-lived Republic of Mainz, before being declared an outlaw in Germany and forced into exile in Paris during the Reign of Terror.Vivid, engaging and drawing on Forster’s rich correspondence almost entirely unpublished in English, The Traveller recounts an extraordinary, passionate life largely forgotten by history.