Complex sentence: He aspired to follow in the footsteps of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, but did not succeed in the sciences, and instead developed a growing enthusiasm for poetry and the humanities.
Split into simpler sentences: He aspired to follow in the footsteps of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal. However, he did not succeed in the sciences, and thus, developed a growing enthusiasm for poetry and the humanities.