<p><b>WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD</b><br><br><b>WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2016</b><br><br><b>''A thrilling adventure story'' Bill Bryson</b><br><br><b>''Dazzling'' <i>Literary Review</i></b><br><br><b>''Brilliant'' <i>Sunday Express</i></b><br><br><b>''Extraordinary and gripping''<i> New Scientist</i></b><br><br><b>''A superb biography'' <i>The Economist</i></b><br><br><b>''An exhilarating armchair voyage'' GILES MILTON, <i>Mail on Sunday</i></b><br><br>Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist - more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there''s a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon. <br><br>His colourful adventures read like something out of a <i>Boy''s Own</i> story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world''s highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scienti