Alexander von Humboldt

Nicolaas Adrianus Rupke (Universität Gottingen)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Domains

Exploration
Meteorology & Climatology

Dates

Born 14 Sep 1769
Died 1859
Activity 1789-1859

Places

Born in Germany
Active in France; Germany; America - South; United States

Activities

Primary

Explorer (scientific)
Geographer
Scientist

Resources

Humboldt's Works

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Alexander von Humboldt has been widely recognized for his universalist approach to natural philosophy, his internationalist attitude in promoting science and scientists, and his cosmopolitan humanitarianism towards cultures and peoples. His most outstanding scientific research arguably was in climatology and meteorology, in the form of studies of the distribution of heat across the globe, for the visual representation of which he devised the isotherm. Humboldt inspired a generation of “Humboldtian” followers, among whom we might mention Maximilian Alexander Philipp, Prince of Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867), the brothers Adolf, Hermann and Robert Schlagintweit (1829-1857; 1826-1882; 1833-1885), Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865) and, most notably, Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Humboldt was

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3028 words

Citation: Rupke, Nicolaas Adrianus. "Alexander von Humboldt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 July 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2253, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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