The Invention of Nature

WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2016

''A thrilling adventure story'' Bill Bryson

''Dazzling'' Literary Review

''Brilliant'' Sunday Express

''Extraordinary and gripping'' New Scientist

''A superb biography'' The Economist

''An exhilarating armchair voyage'' GILES MILTON, Mail on Sunday

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist - more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there''s a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon.

His colourful adventures read like something out of a Boy''s Own story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world''s highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scienti