Comments / thoughts / discussions covering Part V, chapters 20-23 and the Epilogue

My progress update blog: http://elentarri.booklikes.com/post/1579528/the-invention-of-nature-by-andrea-wulf-progress-update

I cried.

And then got annoyed because there were 3 flowery chapters on people other than Humboldt!

Reply to post #2 (show post):
I am probably going to finish this either tonight or tomorrow. I am not looking forward to the end of the book - a) because it's the end of this particular book, and b) because the end of a biography is inevitably going to be a bit sad.

Oh god... crying? No, no, no. I do not find this motivating. ::looks around for Kleenex box::

Tearing up aside, I was wondering what the rationale was behind choosing Muir, Haeckel, and Marsh.
Also, what other people of subsequent generations have been influenced by Humboldt's work?

As much as I can criticise Wulf for the last three chapters, they do make me think...just not about Muir and Marsh. Haeckel more so because he, in turn, became a noted influence.

Ok, I totally teared up after that first chapter of part V; I was doing well until the tributes and reactions - then I had to reach for the kleenex.

I can almost guess the rational behind Muir, Haeckel and Marsh, but Thoreau? No, sorry, I'm floating the theory that Thoreau squeaked in because Wulf's a fan. ;-)

Muir, Haeckel and Marsh... I think she was maybe going for an illustration of how much Humboldt influenced people from very different walks of life, in different careers, but all tied to the same concept of a unified world where everything is interdependent. I think. But it would be interesting to know if there were any other contenders and if so, who they were.

I was also tempted to do a Google search on science headlines and do an ad hoc count of how many 'discoveries' have happened in recent decades that Humboldt documented 150 years ago. I bet there are a LOT.

Just finished the chapter on Darwin, which was awesome. Now Thoreau, which I confess I'm not looking forward to. (I'm looking forward to Muir, Haeckel, and Marsh, though.)

Today in my mailbox popped up a "some of our new books you might be interested in" mailing from Net Galley - featuring a book called "Looking for Humboldt." (Having looked at the description, I think I'm better off reading this, though!)

Reply to post #7 (show post):
I looked up Looking for Humboldt and I'm not sure if it is a book I would appreciate as much as this one. One thing I learned from this book is how "unlimited" Humboldt was. He deliberately did not want to focus on a social circle, a region, a discipline even. From the description of the Looking for Humboldt book, I got the impression that the book was focused on Humboldt in a specific region.

On the other hand, H's travels in Mexico weren't mentioned that much in Wulff's book... so it might be interesting from that point of view. Still, I am resolved to read some H's own work next. :)

Reply to post #7 (show post):
Yeah, just my opinion, but I think Thoreau's chapter was the weakest of the bunch. I had no idea about Marsh, so that was sort of interesting and Muir, while completely not the person I thought he was, turned out to be a very interesting (eccentric) character!

I'm not sure I can muster any interest in reading anything else about Humboldt beyond his own writings; I feel like I got a fairly good idea of the man from this book. On the other hand, once I read his stuff, I might want another POV to compare everything with.