The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wolf

(read aloud)

This is  good book about a great man. He was once extremely famous like an Einstein or Newton but has been somewhat forgotten. The book is very good at showing his influence. The first part of the book captures his life and era in wonderful detail. His travels and remarkable discoveries are explained. His friendships with Goethe and all the major scientists of his day are chronicled.

The last half of the book is a detailed exploration of his great influence in the thinking of Thoreau, Darwin and John Muir and others. The author makes a good case for all of these, though my interest flagged at times. The portrait of Muir was wonderful and engaging.

The major premise, that Humboldt brought together the idea of nature as a unified interacting whole, may be true to some extent but the author mentions this so often that it becomes boring. I feel the book would be much improved it it was edited a little more for conciseness, especially the second half.