Oil on canvas portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1843. Photo: Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Alexander von Humboldt
Patricia Gosling reviews the life of a visionary scientist and writer
Friends who are concerned about environmental issues, and the impact we humans are having upon our planet, might be interested in a book by Andrea Wulf – The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science.
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a hugely respected figure in his lifetime and beyond. His courageous and daring explorations, and his voluminous writings, ensured a continual high profile during his lifetime. His influence was also felt by a wide range of people from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to the English Romantic poets; from Thomas Jefferson to Simón Bolívar; from Charles Darwin, who had all Humboldt’s writings with him for his voyage on HMS Beagle, to Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden; and others.
He was a scientist and a meticulous collector of data, but he also saw the natural world with a poet’s eye. He came to believe that the biosphere was a unitary, interdependent self-regulating entity – a vision close to the more recent concept of James Lovelock’s Gaia.
One wonders why he has so thoroughly disappeared from view, at least in this country. He was a fervent critic of slavery and his acerbic comments on what Spanish colonialism had done to South America made the political powers wary of him. His many attempts to get a passport from the East India Company, in order to travel to India and explore the Himalayas, were repeatedly refused – to his considerable chagrin. (He had a sharp tongue and was not a tactful man!)
This book is an attempt to restore his reputation to its rightful position. The author writes well and is easy to read, lively and entertaining. She has also done her research and presents the story against the background of ongoing European chaos – from the French revolution, through the years of Napoleon Bonaparte’s wars, to the political upheavals of 1848. Throughout this period the intellectual, scientific and literary world of Europe was flourishing and creative, and it was still possible for lively-minded people to remain in touch with, and fertilise, each other’s thinking.
Humboldt was the founding father of today’s environmental movement. His perceptive vision is as inspiring and timely as it ever was. He foresaw the likelihood of global warming, and the shortage of water that now threatens some areas of human habitation because of exploitive deforestation.
While few of us have the prodigious energy and drive that characterised him, he is an outstanding example of how a single dedicated person can, indeed, ‘make a difference’. He is also an interesting example of a phenomenon that I was taught many years ago – namely, that if we offer them up, the Good Lord can make as good use of our weaknesses and inadequacies as of our more positive qualities.
Humboldt nowadays would probably be diagnosed as bipolar. While charming and entertaining, he was, typically, quite incompetent financially, never stopped talking and was totally uninterested in anything outside his own obsessions. But what a life – and what a contribution!
The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science by Andrea Wulf is published by John Murray at £9.99. ISBN: 9781848549005.
