Rediscovering Alexander Von Humboldt, The Largely Forgotten Father Of Environmentalism

Before John Muir – even before Charles Darwin – there was Alexander von Humboldt, the German scientist who shaped our modern understanding of nature. Today, he’s largely forgotten, but Humboldt was once the most famous scientist in the world. Historian Andrea Wulf has just written a biography of Humboldt called “The Invention of Nature,” which The New York Times has picked as one of this year’s ten best books. Steve Paulson recently sat down with Wulf to talk about this remarkable man.