About the Author

Wolfgang Engelhardt

With this work, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Engelhardt (1922-2006) published the first Kosmos nature guide in the 1950s, which focused on explaining ecological relationships. After studying biology, geography, and chemistry in Munich, he championed the concerns of nature conservation and its embedding in public discourse, both in academia and politics. Wolfgang Engelhardt was an honorary professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University and held various leadership positions, including Director General of the Bavarian State Natural Science Collections (1991 to 2000), President of the German Nature Conservation Ring (1968 to 2000), and Chairman of the OroVerde Tropical Forest Foundation, which he initiated in 1989.