Image of the daring adventure he was in he was the best publicist a machine ever. Few know him as well as she doubts andrea is an expert on alexander from whom bolts life and adventures her biography reintroduce the great naturalist to a new generation of readers and now the world is marking his 250th birthday we made out with andrea wulf at the Royal Institution in london one of britains foremost establishment for scientific education and research. Both spent over a dead. Kate on the traces of alexander for home bolt shes written 2 books about him including an illustrated album about his famous expedition to south and Central America it depicts the hardships he endured but also his fascination encounters and discoveries and includes his drawings which fundamentally changed europes view of the americas. Q i think santa for whom boyd was for sure one of the greatest scientists of previous times of all times well he was the most famous scientist of his time and i think hes undergoing a little bit of a renaissance at the moment and i think quite rightly so because i think his views on how he brings together the arts and the science how he says that we need to use our imagination and our feelings to understand nature i think are extreme very relevant. Today we are dealing with Climate Change so no one dares to talk about the world of nature of the beauty of nature the vulnerable beauty of our planet and i think that something that. Something we could. Have that we could probably use today. Alexander was born to wealthy parents in berlin in 1769 after a brief career working for the pression government he used his inheritance to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and set off for america at the age of 30 accompanied by the french explorer and botanist amy dog travel to venice while up and from there to cuba colombia peru mexico and ecuador he collected plants specimens observed animals and became the 1st european to reach the peak of the chimborazo volcano in the andes at the time it was thought to be the highest mountain in the world later wrote 29. 00 books about his trip him really cultivated this. Daring adventure he was he was the best. Publicist to machine ever he would write letters from south america long letters to his friends and then he would end them said i dont mind if you send them to the newspaper so by the time he returns everybody has heard about his adventure so its very much part of his self promotion humboldt is believed to have written a total of 30000. 00 letters luckily for him he was exempted from paying postage by the pression postal minister. He documented his adventures in the letters and his notebooks describing how his boat capsized on the our noko river and he who most drowned talking about the tough hikes and the damage to his feet the various diseases and the mosquitoes. But he also praised the Natural Beauty and the cultural wealth of the countries he visited. He returned from latin america with a complete portray of the ancient civilizations so he explained that these ancient south American Civilization had been very sophisticated cultures with rich languages and with sophisticated architecture and he then in turn influenced many many scholars who began to study them his contemporaries the great german writer johann vulcan from gertrude delighted in his intellectual exchanges with he once said in 8 days of reading books you couldnt learn as much as what he tells you in an hour. U. S. President Thomas Jefferson met several times and maintained a correspondence with him for years. I consider him the most important scientist whom ive met. The english naturalist Charles Darwin is said to have been inspired by whom both while writing his most famous book on the origin of species alexander fun humbled was the greatest scientific traveler who ever lived. Europeans have really looked down on the new world and then theres theres another argument where you can say that he was he had a very Strong Influence on simone believe are they met in paris an agent of just went home what returned and only were later set that home was woke up south americans with his head so was home alone i think so ho almost descriptions of latin america where so vivid and so beautiful he gave the colonists the confidence to fight their fight of independence. The soldier and statesman simone boulevard was instrumental in liberation latin american countries from spanish control. Alexander from home is the true discoverer of america his studies did more for america than the action of all the conquerors before his expedition to south america bumbled had asked for travel permission from the spanish king and received a passport for the colonies but he was shocked by how arrogant and brutal the colonial rulers were towards the Indigenous Peoples was he aware of his own privileges as a wealthy european. I dont know if he would see it as we see it today we have to always bear in mind with these historic figures that they live in their times what i can say is that he was unlike other europeans who travel through south america unlike other. Europeans who did not see the Indigenous People for example as savages or as barbarians quite the opposite so he was he respected them he would use them as their guides and he very quickly realised that they were that they could navigate the jungle in a completely different way so he described them as the best observers of nature as the best geographers who ever met he also collected all their languages and later said there is theres not a language in south america through which we could not express an abstract philosophical european concept. Yet when he set off on his 1st major expedition on the orinoco one of south americas longest rivers ignored the protests of his local guides and dug up skulls in a Burial Ground in the name of science. Bolt was a man of his time he was committed to the enlightenment but he was also obsessive puja voted to his research and could also be inconsiderate of others as well as of himself. He pushed himself to his limits he was not well prepared when he set off to climb chimborazo the soles of his shoes were far too thin and he had no gloves his feet was soon blistered and bloody but he almost made it to the top to an altitude of 5917. 00 made his. No european had ever made it that far. Made drawings of everything that he observed so he could show others later. His famous Cross Sectional diagram of chimborazo sheds light on different climate and vegetation zones and gives an insight into his understanding of nature. He came up with a new concept. And that concept is that nature is a weapon life that nature is and interconnect. To the whole where everything somehow hangs together from the smallest insect to the tallest tree and he described as a living organism so thats what i mean with the invention of nature that hes not until then nature was much more seen as a mechanical system not as a living organism. The idea of nature as a living organism in which everything is interconnected was a new one in the 19th century but also warned that humans were a danger to nature he not only wanted people to understand nature but to feel that this is something that we now have to think about in the current debate about the Climate Crisis sensible. We have the ability is just not acceptable so in the scientific world for example in Peer Reviewed articles scientists are not allowed to write about their feelings and their emotions if you speak to scientists most will tell you that they became a scientist because they love nature so i think it is there and there is really time to dare to introduce this into debates again for example i give you one example which you know in the in. Our whole debate about Climate Change we tend to talk about statistics so we say we talk about the increasing acidity of of the oceans but we dont talk about the beauty of wild way. We all know how terrible Oil Production is for all planet but it is the photograph of a. The lack of grandest that makes us kind of stop. Entree of all space selling book the invention of nature alexander from horrible this new world is not only a biography but an adventure story about homebuilt travels and discoveries full of exciting imagery. Wherever home bottom bomb plant during those past weeks and come on or something new there tension the landscape had to spell over at the palm trees where ornament it was magnificent red blossoms the birds and fish seem to compete in their carlos copeck shoes and even the crayfish were sky blue and yellow pink flamingos stood one legged at the shore and the palms fanned lease model the white sand into a patchwork of shade sun there were butterflies monkeys and so many plants to catch i know that we run around like fools even the usually unruffled bump said that he would go mad if the wonders dont stop soon. To get to know her subjects will spend hours in archives libraries and private collections all over the world but she also literally followed in whole bolts footsteps. You know. One of the great things when you write a book about an explorer is that you get to travel the world obviously all in the name of research so i had so much fun. Following his footsteps so it was a great excuse to go to latin america where i had never been before and i dont know how other writers do it but i need to i cant describe the landscape ive not seen myself so because im not a wealthy person heiress to crabs i could not go on a 5 exploration so i had to going to pick and choose so i went up to him brought so we are on the edge of the rocks at 5000 meters and. And here because this whole boat came here and it was here on that youre about to. Get his vision. As nature is unified this is really the moment where you know hes hes a few to you guys theyre high up im giving up here 5000 meters. So that with a spectacular moment also because the weather can be so terrible and we were just so lucky everything was perfect and then there was a moment to sun up which is another of the volcanoes where we actually found the hut in which homeworld had slept at 4000 meters. 6 years later on trail full stored on in tucson and again in the last tree as Company German president frank about to shine meyer had invited her to accompany his delegation to south america they went to colombia and ecuador and to the galactic a silence in feb 29th teen star in my own operate at the home board year to mark the 250th anniversary of its birth wolf was of course the perfect member of the delegation since she had helped to rescue the great explorer from british oblivion. If someone had told me 8 years ago when i sat on my own in an archive reading through home was horrible handwriting that in 2019 i would listen to the german president give a speech in quito about whom was relevance for the environmental debate today i would have never believed it and that for me was very very very important moment to moment with bombs and everything because through me the home but that is so important is the one who talks about who warns about the destruction of the environment. More than 200 years ago and to see him being used for this argument again i think is just wonderful it. Has been translated into many languages and sold in dozens of. Countries shes been invited all over the world has received numerous prizes and given dozens of speeches at conferences or on television and shes also on the Program Committee of the whole board forum the ins new museum for world cultures thats expected to open in 2020 the building that will house it based on berlins form a city palace contains old and new architectural elements. The home bought for a move to showcase berlins rich collections of non european cultural artifacts how would under a of wolf curation exhibition here if given the chance. Of last fall im glad im not a curator just a historian so i dont have to do this but i think i would. Put something in there that deals with is really between the arts and sciences that bridge that weve completely forgotten so we tend to draw the sharp line between you know we see them as 2 different disciplines for someone like home was very much united and i think thats really missing at the moment so i would look at that. And also because its not just alexander its also will have his name they both have the name who bought it so it should be also something about languages which i think you could bring like poetry science arts stuff like that together alexanders older brother the statesman and educational reform bill him from whom bald was also very famous cheering his life time the whole Ball Brothers grew up. Losing their father as an early age their mother was a staunch advocate of education and both of them made the most of this each in his own why. They had they were very different already as children both both set that they had an unhappy childhood. Escaped into books stories of ancient greece and alexander escaped into the forests and take them kind of you know stuff little insect in his pocket and collected and and then later as younger man as they were they were not very close. And then william was very critical about alexandre living in paris and said you forget your job and this and then later older man their best is really wonderful shift you can see how they become very close and they begin to Work Together and when you look at. Williams work on language you can see that if he does exactly what alexander bass with nature he sees language as a living organism. Vilhelm was the prussian academic alexander the cosmopolitan explorer who became world famous he soon found berlin to provincial and lived in paris when he wasnt travelling his journeys took him to the United States and russia. And though he spent years planning a voyage to india he never made it there as Britains King George the fools wouldnt give him permission. Home bolt is everywhere monuments places and geographical features around the world have been named after him including the home both current which flows along the western coast of south america theres also the penguin this lily is named after him even. Named. Its weird when you go to america where hardly anyone knows alexander from on board theres so many places named after their best for example there are 13 towns named after him there are 4 counties theres a bay there is a river there is a university named after and theres the how about cheese some some younger. Kids kind of teenagers early twentys people know his name because the best marianna comes from humboldt county so they have heard is there but they dont know who he is 150 years ago it was a different story in 86910 years after his death and on the 100th anniversary of his birth who both was honored with fireworks around the globe why was he only put forgotten after lives. Theres not a single big discovery attached to him was the name so he did not come up with the theory of evolution or he didnt discover. An actual law he came up with this idea that nature as a weapon of life weve taken this idea for so technical so so much for granted that weve forgotten the man behind this idea i think thats one thing another thing is that he is the his way of doing science of saying yes on the one hand you have to measure everything but on the other hand you also have to use your imagination was absolutely not accepted in the early 20th century anymore and then last but not least in the English Speaking world he theres a very strong anti german sentiment with world war one so thats thats the moment where hes going to get pushed out of the public memory here. Many of whom bolts ideas seem to address contemporary problems not only because were increasingly dealing with the effects of Climate Change but also because more and more people are asking what they can do to halt it such as those taking part in the fridays to future movement headed by swedish team greater to. Realize 2 centuries earlier that human intervention in the Natural World can have terrible consequences. Theres a moment in his diary in 81 when hes and when hes in in latin america where he actually says that one day we might travel to distant planets and if we do that we will bring who take our lethal mixture of greed arrogance and while its with us and we will leave those planets as ravaged as weve already done with earth so i think he sees this trajectory what we are. About to whats about to happen i mean he in 832 he says there are 3 ways in which the in which humans can affect the climate exist through deforestation through irrigation and through the great masses of steam and gas at the Industrial Centers 832. 00 so that was pretty like a prediction pretty prophetic. But the time bull finished. Writing the invention of nature she thought she knew everything there was to know about alexander from whom boat but then Berlin State Library acquired his diaries which hadnt been accessible to the public before and knew she wasnt done with one boat yet. There is actually one moment i can tell you exactly when i decided that i had to write a 2nd book about which was when. When his legendary south american diaries were born so they have been in private ownership until then but at the end of 2013 they were bored by the process and Heritage Foundation and. They were made Available Online so this was the moment when the 1st pages became available at the end of 2014 this was the moment when i was just handing over my manuscript for the invention of nature. So i couldnt use them. For the imagination which was not a problem tons of content we cause we had transcriptions but seeing the actual paper pages 4000 pages with hundreds of little sketches and drawings i knew i wanted to do a book that would also show on boards artistic visual side because he did not just understand nature intellectually but also visually so thats when i decided to do whatever you want to call it a kind of graphic novel or graphic nonfiction illustrated. Journey of discovery or whatever it is but something that would show his stuff this trial and based on the adventures of alexander from home bold shows that the book does more than summarize south american adventure. Recounts his 1st encounter with the continents Indigenous Peoples his fascination with its Natural Beauty his discoveries and his observations about manmade disasters illustrator lilian many of whom original texts and drawings into this wonderful graphic novel. So in a way he became the collaborator so i wrote it lilian drew it and about every single page there something that did his manuscripts his his engravings his original plan specimens his maps is so his his handwriting is everywhere in this. Untrainable spent a decade researching the life of alexander from her home in archives libraries and private collections she traveled the world following in his footsteps to find out what he saw and felt on his expeditions she learned about the hardships he endured and the diversity of nature theres no doubt that alexander from whom was a fascinating figure. How do you close the book on someones son vibrant and dont even want to know. What i think i want to have to say goodbye forever hes just going to be like an old friend you see not as much as anymore. Im pretty sure that ill continue being interested in him i mean this is the same with my previous books about the Founding Fathers i still do talks and events about it i still do interviews about it not as much as and anymore but i do have the feeling in the last almost 4 years since the invention came out ive been home was opposite the lady and its kind of time to step back at some stage so. In 2020 i want to finally write another book so so i will see less of it i wont get completely divorced but i also will have some new friends which i will have to entertain not just so. Untrainable snoo project is another historical biography this one is about several people though she wont reveal who however she doubt shell ever encounter another figure as exciting im 50 and important as alexander from him bolt the great gemma naturalist and explore a. Bit. Like something from an exotic foreign culture thats what the. Mysterious and fierce. Before work of damsel from. Euro max in 30 minutes on d. W. Takes it personally with the wonderful people in stories that make it so special are you ready. For. The. 90 minutes on d w. Every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word published in the. Rico is in germany to learn german why not with him its simple online on your mobile and free to suffer from d w z learning course nikos fake german made him see. The power of foreigners. Where i come from i never saw the sun when it comes to. Having gone up in brazil and the son was always the man since the point of his word for son is masculine when i moved to germany as a 10 year old i watched the do it on t. V. And that would change how i see the world because into a month of this family didnt. Seem in now but the side of a good listener so i read a ponytail instead of a deep voice exterminates guy seemed absolutely incredible. I realized how language shakes thinking how definitions are not only mental image just put out a whole 1st time some of the role. Is inside save my life and was one of the reasons i became a journalist im a story teller and i use my words to help with Intercultural Understanding my name in the intimate way and i words and to tell people. This is deja vu news a lot from berlin and gridlock at the Un Climate Conference with crucial deadlines looming World Leaders still cant agree on funding or International Rules to curb Global Warming climate activists are demanding immediate action and a binding agreement. Socalled sardined protesters packed the center of rome tens of found
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.