andrea wulf the adventures of alexander von humboldt

At each of these, more dots connected as I learned how these historical artists, scientists and writers had often known and corresponded with each other. This has been enhanced by the fact I’ve visited a few museums in the past years that focus on famous people who lived in a similar location (modern-day Germany) and time period (the Napoleonic Wars and the Age of Enlightenment) such as the Brothers Grimm Museumin Kassel, the Mendelssohn Bartholdy House Museum in Leipzig, and an exhibition about 19th Century visions of the futureat the Bröhan Museum in Berlin. Connecting these dots brought my view of history into broader focus, and I started to see a tapestry of authors all influencing one another, each adding their own new unique contribution and paving the way for others. I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising, given writers today also have childhood idols and inspiring friends, but the distance of abstract dates and historical facts sometimes made me forget that. Last year, however, when researching for a blog series about popular fantasy books in different decades, I was repeatedly fascinated by how many writers had been inspired by, or even been good friends with, other writers on my lists. In the past, I’ve tended to to look at famous historical figures in isolation, focusing on the unique feats they achieved and how different it was to everything that had come before. Aside from informing me about a brilliant scientist and author called Alexander von Humboldt – who I knew very little about – it got me thinking again about a topic I’ve found myself mulling over often in the past year: namely, how much writers are influenced by the work of other writers who’ve come before them, or even those who are writing at the same time. I don’t normally read a lot of non-fiction, but I recently picked up The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf.

So in case anyone’s looking for a positive break from reading about pandemics, here it is: I actually wrote this post several weeks ago, before the corona virus crisis hit on a world scale… but given it’s about the importance of scientists and human beings connecting with and inspiring each other, be it in person or from afar, it actually feels somehow appropriate.

The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf

Andrea wulf the adventures of alexander von humboldt