" ... Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age ... 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 case that it was Humboldt's influence that led John Muir to his ideas of natural preservation and that shaped Thoreau's Walden ..."--Jacket.

"THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK"--Title page verso.

Beginnings -- Imagination and nature: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Humboldt -- In search of a destination -- South America -- The llanos and the Orinoco -- Across the Andes -- Chimborazo -- Politics and nature: Thomas Jefferson and Humboldt -- Europe -- Berlin -- Paris -- Revolutions and nature: Simón Bolívar and Humboldt -- London -- Going in circles: Maladie centrifuge -- Return to Berlin -- Russia -- Evolution and nature: Charles Darwin and Humboldt -- Humboldt's Cosmos -- Poetry, science and nature: Henry David Thoreau and Humboldt -- The greatest man since the deluge -- Man and nature: George Perkins Marsh and Humboldt -- Art, ecology and nature: Ernst Haeckel and Humboldt -- Preservation and nature: John Muir and Humboldt.