Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von, Biology, Biographies

Related Category: Biology, Biographies

Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von[hum´bOlt, Ger. AleksAn´dur frI´her fun hoom´bOlt] Pronunciation Key, 1769–1859, German naturalist and explorer. His full name is Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt. Educated at GOttingen, he studied at Hamburg, Freiberg, and Jena and made several scientific excursions in Europe. In 1792 he was appointed assessor of mines in Berlin. From 1799 to 1804 he made his renowned expedition with A. J. A. Bonpland to Central and South America and Cuba, a journey that did much to lay the foundations for the sciences of physical geography and meteorology. The major ocean current off S America, which was studied by Humboldt, once carried his name, but is now called the Peru Current. He ascended peaks in the Peruvian Andes to study the relation of temperature and altitude, made observations leading to the discovery of meteor shower periodicity, and investigated the fertilizing properties of guano. In 1808 he settled in Paris and published the findings of his New World expedition in Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland (23 vol., 1805–1834), often cited by the title of Part I, Voyage aux rEgions Equinoxiales du nouveau continent. Humboldt established the use of isotherms in map making; studied the origin and course of tropical storms, the increase in magnetic intensity from the equator toward the poles, and volcanology; and made pioneer investigations on the relationship between geographical environment and plant distribution. In 1827 he settled in his native Berlin at the request of the Prussian king. His interest in terrestrial magnetism led him to effect one of the first instances of international scientific cooperation, by forming a system of meteorological stations throughout Russia and the British colonies. In 1829, Humboldt made an expedition to Russia and Siberia. In his Kosmos (5 vol., 1845–1862; tr. 1849–1858) he sought to combine the vague ideals of the 18th cent. with the exact scientific requirements of the 19th cent. and to formulate a concept of unity amid the complexity of nature.

See biography by C. Kellner (1963); D. Botting, Humboldt and the Cosmos (1973).