2009/07/01 by Frank N. Egerton · 1 citation
Immunology and Microbiology · Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Alexander von Humboldt Studies #History of Science and Natural History #Socioeconomics of Resources and Conservation
paper · doi:10.1890/0012-9623-90.3.253
Click here for all previous articles in the History of the Ecological Sciences series by F. N. Egerton Historians of geography claim F. W. H. Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) and Carl Ritter (1779–1859) as the two founders of modern geography (Kish 1978:402–419, James and Martin 1981:112–126, Minguet 1997), and there are more places named for Humboldt than for anyone else (Oppitz 1969). During the 1800s several specialized ecological sciences arose, the first of which was Humboldt's vegetational plant geography, in contrast to the floristic plant geography of Linnaeus (Grisebach 1872, Stearn 1968:116–128, Nicolson 1987, Castrillon 1992, Bowler 1993:272–273, Acot 2003). Although Larson (1986:469–472) emphasizes Humboldt's debts to his predecessors, Humboldt was the most important founder of ecological sciences between Linnaeus and Charles Darwin. He was also a great rarity—a wealthy aristocrat who turned his back on the comfort and privilege that he inherited and devoted his life and wealth to science. That he lived almost 90 years was remarkable, given his travels in the tropics and Siberia, and his longevity was a great boon for science. Humboldt's scientific interests and contributions were extremely broad, encompassing practically all of science, and consequently the historical literature on him is vast. The scope of this part of my history seems quite broad, but it only touches a limited part of that literature. There are recent guides to that broader literature: Biermann 1972, Stafleu and Cowan 1976–1988, II:363–371, Hein 1987:310–326, Rupke 2000, Travers 2003; for a bibliography of his 138 scientific papers and six coauthored papers, see the Royal Society of London's Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1800–1863) (1869:462–467). Humboldt's numerous biographies include four in English: Bruhns 1873, Terra 1955, Kellner 1963, Botting 1973. The most authoritative biography is in German (Beck 1959–1961). Rupke (2005) provides a survey and critique of Humboldt biographies. There is as yet no collected edition of Humboldt's enormous correspondence, but Heim's bibliography (1987:314) cites 24 published collections. It missed articles that publish only a few letters, such as four to Filippo Parlatore (Rodolico 1968) or just one to Charles Darwin (Barrett and Corcos 1972), and another collection of letters appeared after Heim's bibliography (Humboldt 1993). Early in his life at his parents' estate near Berlin, he developed a strong interest in natural history, but this did not lead to studies of science, which was unimportant in a German curriculum of the day. He compensated by reading books on exploration, and he especially liked mathematician-explorer Louis Antoine Bouganville's Voyage autour du monde (1771), describing his circumnavigation of the world in 1766–1769 (George 1970), and Georg Adam Forster's A Voyage Round the World (1777). Forster (1754–1794) had accompanied his father Johann Reinhold Forster, naturalist on Captain James Cook's second voyage, 1772–1775 (Hoare 1972, Lenz 1980). Karl Ludwig Willdenow (1765–1812) published his Florae Berolinensis in 1787, and this book became Humboldt's introduction to botany. In 1788 they met, became close friends, and occasionally collaborated. Willdenow influenced Humboldt's development of an interest in plant geography (Hein 1959, Bylebyl 1976, Browne 1983:38–40, Larson 1986:466–470, Bowler 1993:176–177). When Humboldt went to Göttingen University in 1789, he met Forster, and they also became close friends (Ackerknecht 1955). …plant geography traces the connections and relations by which all plants are bound together among themselves, designates in what lands they are found, in what atmospheric conditions they live, and tells of the destruction of rocks and stones by what primitive forms of the most powerful algae, by what roots of trees, and describes the surface of the earth in which humus is prepared. Hartshorne said that this was in Humboldt's first major publication; Nicolson (1987:174, 1996:290) states that this was where “Humboldt first publicly set out his programme for a new form of plant geography in 1793.” Hanno Beck, in his fine edition of Humboldt's studies on plant geography, discovered other writings by Humboldt on this topic going back to 1790 (Humboldt 1989:33–36). When Humboldt finished his studies in 1792, he joined the Prussian Department of Mines as an inspector. This gave him an opportunity to study the geological strata in mining areas. He had a great appreciation of measurement and of scientific instruments (Théodoridès and Destombes 1969, Bourguet 1998, Jacques et al. 2003), and he was also adept at devising respirators and safety lamps for miners (illustrated in Botting 1973:30, Kümmel 1987:204). He had never intended to make mining supervision into a career, and after his mother died in 1796, he resigned to pursue science and exploration. In 1796–1797 he planned a trip to the West Indies (Beck 1958). In 1798 he planned to explore Egypt and traveled to Paris to obtain scientific instruments. Neither trip materialized, but while in Paris he met Bougainville, who was planning another voyage around the world and wanted Humboldt to join him. Humboldt was thrilled, but war aborted that voyage, as it had his plans for Egypt. Nevertheless, Humboldt met Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (1773–1858), recruited as expedition botanist (Sarton 1943, Stafleu and Cowan 1976–1988, I:274–276, Trystram 1995, Ceraruti 2003, Lourteig 2003), who was as disappointed as Humboldt at their aborted expedition. Together, they set out on their own expedition, to Spain, where a German ambassador introduced them to the royal family. Carlos IV was charmed by Humboldt's personality, knowledge, and his fluency in Spanish and readily agreed to allow him and Bonpland to explore Spanish America—at their own expense. George Basalla (1967) explains that the extent to which science developed in any colony was proportionate to the level of scientific activity in the mother country. There were a significant number of natural history studies being made in Latin America, but since science was poorly supported in Spain, few of these studies were published (Pennell 1945:35–40, Glick and Quinlan 1975:75–77, Canizares-Esquerra 2003:75–77, Canizares-Esquerra 2005). An exception was a study by Felix de Azara, but his publication owed much to the fact that his brother was Spain's ambassador to France and that he could therefore go to Paris to publish it in a French translation (see below). On the other hand, the natural history studies in South America by the Frenchman Alcide d'Orbigny (1802–1857) were readily published, since he lived in Paris (Tobin 1974). I shall try to find out how the forces of nature interact upon one another and how the geographic environment influences plant and animal life. In other words, I must find out about the unity of nature. Humboldt gathered perhaps the most sophisticated armamentarium of scientific instruments ever before assembled. Each of the forty-two instruments, nestled in its own velvet-lined box, was the most accurate and most portable of its kind yet devised. There were thermometers for measuring the temperature of air and water, barometers for fixing elevation above sea level, quadrants and sextants for determining geographic position (including a sextant small enough to fit in a pocket), telescopes, microscopes, a balance scale, chronometers, compasses, a rain gauge, substances for performing chemical assays, electric batteries, electrometers (for measuring electric current), a Leyden jar (a glass vessel capable of storing static electricity), theodolites (surveyors' instruments for measuring vertical and horizontal angles), hygrometers (for measuring atmospheric moisture), a dip needle (for measuring variations in the orientation of the earth's magnetic field), and eudiometers (for measuring the amount of oxygen in the air). Humboldt's own discussion of these instruments runs to seven pages (1818–1829:34–40). After their ship, Pizarro, reached the Canary Islands on 18 June, they began investigating Teneriffe, the largest island. They ascended Pico de Teide, a volcano 11,500 feet high, and then descended inside to see and smell a recently active volcano. This was the first of Humboldt's many ascents of volcanoes (Sachs 2006:42). Elsewhere they measured the 45-foot circumference of a dragon tree (Dracaena draco). Ever the geographer, Humboldt provided a table on the population of the seven islands for 1678, 1745, 1768, and 1790 (1818–1829:I, 288). The islands suffered a of water, but there were or opportunity for in The of all the islands was only the of yet the supported a He did not these islands to the that (1818–1829:I, On the of the voyage they that the to only to by and Humboldt his of of South that the to only to by expedition in Spanish America four geographic the rain and of what is the and During their travels in the first two their was on the and the Humboldt's of four the expedition were to the forms and of the and and and In the he that was in in to the population than was the in and his was that and much more than did He the at that of and he that the of Spanish America were In only one but in Spanish America all and only in the to When the Spanish began the were much than the being while Humboldt was in (Humboldt Egerton first expedition out of in was to the of they went rain to they was a near the of as the for many which Humboldt said was the only the and of for the who had the into Humboldt the there had not the were to go as into the as did of the (Humboldt Egerton that in the as as The was broader than Humboldt could encompassing the and and A Humboldt could discovered was two to four of two a The expedition, to in they of the electric a which Linnaeus had named in Humboldt had numerous and he was to explore this for and The had an of but Humboldt was to obtain them they and into where the which by the that the or them to but also the to He and Bonpland as and Humboldt's instruments to any or (Humboldt but by the instruments were enough to it and In on he a he named which did not electric He more of life than but that An more than that of was of the of the at several islands in the near its the The was into of which Humboldt for Egerton also but since of this in not their In an of the than that which Humboldt had the It was for to and Humboldt an study the He the by and describing in Latin new that the not and that are active at of day. that in in the that were a of the but the the of which are to the the of all the they Humboldt agreed the and of He and Bonpland had which he were not of their trip the was to de of the of a natural between that and it it important for They the which is it were only Humboldt the population was before their many to into the for the of the Humboldt a the and he After it died an he the and a published is in the as his He of in America which is almost the Humboldt as a Terra by Humboldt and in South Humboldt and Bonpland of their or After Humboldt's by Louis in Humboldt and Bonpland of and of by Humboldt's by Louis Humboldt and Bonpland by Humboldt and Bonpland On 24 they for to their to but this by a During more than in they for which Humboldt and in great and his on them are by Charles Minguet in they in an that the French expedition on which they had wanted to had but Captain not They to to to join On they for in on a voyage that more than a but this They in of the edition of Humboldt's is on the but its is on the voyage and the geography of the It is pages what one a voyage, and just another on a limited Humboldt was not one to their at this is his to the and of the 1872, 1959, 2003). It was the most important to since had them about a That his Humboldt published his in du voyage du in and planned a that never It their trip to which they reached on 18 the they that not in they their of his and together of that trip his other especially by him and Bonpland and Humboldt's Although Humboldt's plants and of and plant geography were in in other (Grisebach 1872, Humboldt and Bonpland collected plant and discovered about new published of the four of their Latin to where they collected plant They the to feet which they reached on and were the that Humboldt but to They two a Spanish was in Botting Stafleu and Cowan 1976–1988, In to Carlos an expedition to study and other and in he was in of the de a of which much of what is of to who by then suffered Humboldt and Bonpland plants they had collected Humboldt named one of his and in of their Humboldt also and that had they traveled to or after Humboldt about a that who had discovered a to by the temperature of (a in met Humboldt and Bonpland in on and they their for several places and close gave Humboldt a of a he had of and in Humboldt how to instruments which he had not and Bonpland him botany. to join Humboldt's expedition, and after Humboldt joined expedition and made his own important studies on also made his own of as he had to Humboldt in never published his his as Spanish him in for in an (Humboldt supported that had it while he was in Spanish A naturalist Humboldt did not was de he had South America in Glick and Quinlan He had the natural history of and and after in Spain, he went on to where his brother was the Spanish That the translation of his on into French and its publication in Paris French he to and in a and edition in Spanish In he published his that his natural history in and a that Darwin in his own An the into in is by von Humboldt and Bonpland almost feet high, to where they six A was a small on the of de by and On this trip Humboldt and his Although not the most important founder of the science of he was its most traveled founder The most of the four years was his of of which was the elevation had Humboldt This is a small of the in Humboldt and Bonpland by Humboldt's The in the a is Humboldt or They did on and ascended to feet It was a that Humboldt's before this In he this and published an of and his their It a of the which they to the they then on The they had after a on which had (Humboldt Bonpland a at feet and a at The was at and were above the at feet Humboldt provided on the natural history in his and de et on its in of to into measured at feet and yet it could to sea level it It is the largest a of to and he that all it is the one that at to the the earth's (Humboldt Although a at on and (Humboldt and Bonpland Humboldt Humboldt was by yet they there for two He that for and he a colony on one of the de Islands the he that on such islands could a for Humboldt and Bonpland by Louis he to for his and it did to his the 2003). published of in of or had not to its introduction into or America On they for which they reached on During that voyage, he the of several places the and he first measured the temperature and of an that his of the Humboldt the surface temperature at was only the air on was He that since the air the it its and rain did not to conditions (Humboldt von de Terra When they had to the of the previous it had but as they the they could its They reached on and then a in Terra and Humboldt also much in the for his book on the The were by him that he was a position in the It was but he to his and for and Paris was for to he and Bonpland a in and and most 1987, was in their and Humboldt a of his of in Humboldt and Bonpland then to reached on and in Paris to their and and to publish of their were by but as of about a of This naturalist did on of the and Cowan 1976–1988, I:274–276, and but he for publication and the It seems to just here of Humboldt and his also to they had plant to Humboldt he another and in he to Paris Carl to study the and publish Stafleu and Cowan 1976–1988, Bonpland to South America in Humboldt's first et only to the he to all the Humboldt began a the of the is a in the French of and as a introduction to what a science of It was the most and most important for ecological sciences in the 1800s In most of the it is but one could for a colony on one of the de Aimé Jacques Alexandre by of and of the of Sciences and of et is the of the of and the of between the two Humboldt and Bonpland In I had a edition of the I the to include a of the as had a of it that was in six of translation of Humboldt's I only discovered that it I my of the German of the are in a by and in a in edition of Humboldt's plant geography writings (Humboldt Acot provides a of the French at an of at at which of a given elevation are the for of and in of as measured by of at the in of measured by the of a in a of the in of the in in of measured in of the and in chemical of the measured by the elevation of the at animal life at the temperature at which at the geological at the of the of in a as Humboldt's for instruments and one the of these of his was It was He the of four of to their the four was who became Humboldt's plants in and on the and which the to around and the plants In Humboldt the and the as to the of or He that plant geography could by there is a in the in on one of the and of and on the He that as in all and they on than on the rocks they plant one must He forms of plant trees, and 1969). these more in a for the He that in the of the and of the He was the first to the of to a of to the of and to the in the of the temperature being the determining Humboldt's in the of a for a new science. It was quite in to vegetational plant geography and in to his in their own one it to for de or to for of it seems is that they were and Humboldt was a new as to plant He did out several but a science only after de the forms more the the the the the and the forms on the the the are the the the and the their in the and also the and the are the the the and the the forms relations the on by of the which an of He this the in his et de de which was into in Egerton his of for the between and America was not published the French or the it appeared an of this in another and He also developed to were among his numerous contributions to and Humboldt also his by new In the or to et he a the of at the to in et du is a of the plants of Pico de on Teneriffe, and is a of the one of its plants and of all in also in as a the one et in his edition of the on plant geography (Humboldt Humboldt's to et the of the to the but that was a of a and he it into a book that an of scientific literature (Humboldt the scope of his plant geography had for a new science, this book the de a new to plant geography in in geography had a more to animal geography in his et and A German of and in the in much more in two He that and Linnaeus had in their and on much more as a for this science 1955, Browne Larson also that made significant contributions to plant and animal geography in the of the and in the first of the 1800s Reinhold of also the of plants and and the of conditions in of his great Humboldt to animal geography a and of new and on their published in his and more in de et publish he first a to and his animal and he the of who was in the in Paris They became friends, and letters Humboldt to him are published (Théodoridès Humboldt in Paris for the of his but IV wanted him back in as his Humboldt's was his for in but in his about and his were not yet he to his and to Humboldt was a who the its and he never the of Prussian Nevertheless, he the of I to go to more to on its he had wanted to explore and this was his only He on he was for almost six and traveled Terra see my Kellner Botting This was his in Spanish America, which had a In he was an and was as and his studies were limited to geography, and he the German who had in an expedition to Egypt in and who collected for the Berlin, and Paris Humboldt also the German who published a of their their in and the had the and of places they Humboldt not explore his instruments, him to and magnetic were into his de et which Kellner and Humboldt the to a series of to the of the not the such that a Humboldt's in in Terra a and his and never by a Humboldt became the most in he was at a than anyone but it is that anyone ever his scientific of earth what was not by any who to and and its upon all forms of life in a as he but by among which more than anyone He the second of the in in the of and and It of the for the of The and the were that Humboldt's or not he them Humboldt's was to his correspondence, and Egerton Nicolson He more had he a at the University of Berlin, in by his brother Humboldt and new He a to in a of (Beck The he to was his of two of in Berlin, the first set the of which was published as edition into into and in the of published, became his major He began the by that the most important of science is of the of by which all natural forces are together and made upon see sciences but did of his on plant and animal geography and he had had the and to a he provided more of ecological and for the were important for his and for for science 2003, Humboldt's as There are more of him than of any other 1959, 1980). of his life and are numerous they are of them upon his Latin as von but his as Botting A of geography that his and and is The published a of Humboldt's in a edition a of and Charles Darwin was only the most of the many who were by Humboldt 1959, and he Humboldt's as a for the of describing his voyage (Théodoridès Egerton and Corcos their I Department of and de