This book is the first scientific biography of a remarkable scientist - geologist, geographer and traveler of the mid-19th century. E.K. Hoffmann, who devoted his life to studying the nature of the Urals, Ukraine and Crimea, Eastern Siberia, and southern Kamchatka. The main area of his field research was the Urals, where, as a result of his expeditions, the Pai-Khoi ridge was discovered, the sources of many rivers were clarified, the absolute heights of a number of mountains and settlements were determined, and vivid descriptions of the nature and life of the indigenous population were given. A glacier in the Subpolar Urals and a cape at the mouth of the Kara River are named after him. The author is Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor N.P. Arkhipova is known for many publications about the nature of the Ural Mountains and the history of their study. The book is intended for readers interested in the history of Russian science, geologists, geographers, local historians, and nature lovers.