When talking about the Enlightenment, ornithology is seldom the first topic of conversation. Still, Enlightenment and ornithology converge in one important respect, that of abundance. In our time, new-wave ornithologists have renewed their faith in eighteenth-century expectations for the discovery of a gigantic number of bird species. It is at this intersection between abundant modern science and ambitious Enlightenment ideology that this remarkable collection of five essays on Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), the father of American ornithology, makes its original and delightful contribution. Alexander Wilson: Enlightened Naturalist recovers Wilson’s literary, artistic and musical pursuits, and the cultural contexts of his life in the Scotland of Robert Burns. It also explores Wilson’s scientific and philosophic contribution to American ornithology in American Ornithology; or The Natural History of the Birds of theUnited States, published in Philadelphia between 1808 and 1814. Alexander Wilson is richly illustrated, links to a web site of audio readings of Wilson’s Scots poems– links that are embedded in the ebook–and includes a tribute to the late Edward H. Burtt, Jr., who died shortly before publication.

On the bicentennial of his death, this beautifully illustrated volume pays tribute to the Scot who became the father of American ornithology. Alexander Wilson made unique contributions to ecology and animal behavior. His drawings of birds in realistic poses in their natural habitat inspired Audubon, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and other naturalists.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world—and in the process created modern environmentalism. "Vivid and exciting.... Wulf’s pulsating account brings this dazzling figure back into a dazzling, much-deserved focus.” —The Boston Globe Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. In North America, Humboldt’s name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten. In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism—and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.

Excerpt from Alexander Wilson, Poet-Naturalist: A Study of His Life With Selected Poems A pleasant task is finished; a heavy burden has been laid aside. These are the conflicting feelings that one must needs experience who has completed the writing of a book. Though there have been no ties of consanguinity between the subject of this monograph and its writer, yet there has been much to make the work of real interest, and however tedious the labor has sometimes grown, the remembrance of the tireless energy and self-devotion of the spirit over whose life I was working has still nerved me for fresh endeavor. The undertaking of this task was suggested to me by one whose ripe experience and discrimination was to me a sufficient guarantee that the work was worth the while, and if the limited public to which such a book as this can hope to appeal adds its approval to his I shall be satisfied and the labor shall have received its reward. The few lives of Wilson which have preceded this have been scarcely more than brief sketches written as introductions to his works. Nor, with the exception of a desultory essay by Alexander B.Grosart, have they drawn attention to the pure literary work of the man. My acknowledgments are due to even the least of these biographies, for they have taught me, if nothing else, to keep myself clear from some of the faults into which they have fallen. To the excellent Belfast Edition of Wilsons poems and to the volumes edited by Grosart I am especially indebted for the complete text of his poems and for a convenient arrangement of his correspondence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.