再现洪堡的自然世界——《自然的发明》阅读记

Representing Alexander von Humboldt’s World of Nature：A Reading of The Invention of Nature

中文关键词: 洪堡 德国 美洲 自然 生命之网

英文关键词: Alexander von Humboldt  Germany  America  nature  web of life

中文摘要:

      2015 年出版的《自然的发明》（The Invention of Nature ）是知名科普作家安德烈·伍尔芙（Andrea Wulf）的最新力作，赢得了2016 年英国皇家学会“Insight Investment”科学图书奖。该书按时间顺序描绘了 洪堡的一生行迹，重点叙述他对自然知识的广泛探索及其在欧美世界的深远影响。在洪堡的新世界观中，地 球就是一个大型的有机整体，其中的所有事物之间相互关联；而所谓自然（nature）可视作一张由错综复杂的 因果链联结而成的生命之网（web of life）。洪堡的思想深远地影响了后人对于自然世界的思考，在今日也已获 得相当共识，而洪堡本人反倒淡出民众的视野和记忆。

英文摘要:

      The Invention of Nature is the latest work by the noted science writer Andrea Wulf in 2015，which won her the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize in 2016. This work illustrates the whole life of Alexander von Humboldt，with an emphasis on his extensive explorations of natural knowledge and their profound influence in the Euro-American world. According to Humboldt’s new view of the world，the earth is a large organic integrity，within which everything is connected with each other；the so-called nature can be considered as a web of life constituted by intricate casual chains. Although Humboldt himself has faded from people’s vision and memory，his ideas，exerting a far-reaching influence on reflections of the later generations on the natural world，arouse consensus even today.