Alexander von Humboldt

Nicolaas Adrianus Rupke (Universität Gottingen)
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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

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 19 March 2024.]

2253 Alexander von Humboldt 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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