Last month, I had the honor of attending a lecture by Andrea Wulf at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley – an event made possible by board member emeritus Ann Reynolds, with the support of the Garden Conservancy.
UC Botanical Garden
Andrea Wulf is a historian and writer who has written 5 award-winning books about gardening and, in the case of her most recent book, a naturalist. She does incredible research on her subjects (including mountain climbing the same mountains Von Humboldt climbed in Ecuador to understand her subject better) and writes in a very engaging style. Her books are:
- This Other Eden: Seven Great Gardens and 300 Years of English History (2005)
- The Brother Gardeners: A Generation of Gentlemen Naturalists and the Birth of an Obsession (2008)
- Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation (2012)
- Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens (2012)
- The Invention of Nature: How Alexander Von Humboldt Revolutionized Our World (2015)
I personally read The Founding Gardeners prior her lecture and found it absolutely fascinating to learn about our Founding Fathers’ unique relationships with gardening.
Andrea addressed our intimate audience of 40 or so garden enthusiasts and listened to her incredibly informative synopsis of her latest book, The Invention of Nature: How Alexander Von Bumboldt Revolutionized Our World. Not only will I absolutely read this book, but I will sign up for any opportunity to hear Andrea Wulf speak. She is terrific.
Check out her site for information about her upcoming events.
