Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859)
Author of Jaguars and Electric Eels
About the Author
Baron Alexander von Humboldt was born in Berlin, Germany. During his early school years, he studied such subjects as geology, biology, metallurgy, and mining, and his main interest was in nature and other lands. In 1796 Humboldt traveled to the German Alps, where he measured the atmospheric show more pressure, humidity, and oxygen content of the air. Shortly after, in 1799, he was granted permission by the Spanish king to explore Spain's mysterious holdings in the Americas. For the next five years, he and his companion, Aime Bonplaud, explored the region that is now Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico. While in the Andes, he fell prey to mountain sickness, which led him to become the first person to explain that the sickness was caused by a lack of oxygen. During these travels, he and Bonplaud collected 60,000 plant specimens; mapped the area; and studied its climates, bodies of water, wildlife, and minerals. The findings of this exhaustive adventure were published in a 23-volume series, Voyage de Humboldt et Bonplaud (1805--34). In 1829, at the invitation of the Russian government, Humboldt made an expedition to Russia and Siberia, categorizing, observing, and recording as he went. One of the results of this expedition was a 5-volume work, Kosmos (1845-62), in which he tried to combine the vague ideals of the eighteenth century with the exact scientific requirements of his own. Considered one of the founders of modern geography, Humboldt showed geographers that there was more to the study of geography than the shape of Earth and its regions. He gave them a system of geographic inquiry, he was the first to draw an isothermal map, studied tropical storms and volcanoes, and pioneered the field of terrestrial magnetism. Equally important, he was responsible for one of the first examples of international scientific cooperation, which led to the formation of a system of meteorological stations throughout Russia and Great Britain. During one of his many expeditions, he measured the temperature of the current with which his ship sailed from Lima, Peru, to Acapulco, Mexico. Later this current was named the Humboldt Current in his honor. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: From "Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great Scientists," Elbert Hubbard, 1916 (Project Gutenberg)
Series
Works by Alexander von Humboldt
Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent [Abridged - Penguin Classics] (1995) 141 copies
Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of America, during the years 1799-1804 (1970) 64 copies
Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe; Volume 2 (Foundations of Natural History) (1997) 29 copies
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 - Volume 1 (2007) 21 copies
Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: A Critical Edition (2013) 20 copies
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 - Volume 2 (2007) 17 copies
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, Vol. III (in 3 volumes): During the Years… (2009) 13 copies
Alexander von Humboldt: The Complete Drawings from the American Travel Journals (2018) — Author — 10 copies
Studienausgabe: Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.2, Die Forschungsreise in den Tropen Amerikas, in 3 Tl.-Bdn.: Bd… (1997) 8 copies
Südamerikanische Reise ; mit 33 Ansichten nach Humboldts originalen Landschaftszeichnungen und Kartenbildern und 6… (1990) 6 copies
Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.7, Kosmos, 2 Tl.-Bde.: Bd. 7 in 2 Teilbänden. Teilband 1 (1993) 5 copies
Letters Of Alexander Von Humboldt Written Between The Years 1827 And 1858 To Varnhagen Von Ense - Together With… (2008) 3 copies
Alejandro de Humboldt en Colombia 2 copies
Darmstädter Ausgabe. Band IV, Mexico-Werk : Politische Ideen Zu Mexico : Mexicanische Landeskunde (2014) 2 copies
Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.7, Kosmos, 2 Tl.-Bde.: Bd. 7 in 2 Teilbänden. Teilband 2 2 copies
Viaggio alle regioni equinoziali del nuovo continente fatto nel 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 e 1804: relazione storica (1986) 2 copies
Die Entdeckung der Neuen Welt : mit dem geographischen und physischen Atlas der Äquinoktial-Gegenden des neuen… (2009) 2 copies
Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.7, Kosmos, 2 Tl.-Bde.: Bd. 7 in 2 Teilbänden. Tafeln (1993) 2 copies
Die Frankfurter Schule und die Folgen Referate eines Symposiums der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung vom 10.-15.… (1986) 2 copies
Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.1, Schriften zur Geographie der Pflanzen: Bd. 1 (1989) 2 copies
Ideas para una geografia de las plantas. Más Un cuadro de la naturaleza de los países tropicales (Spanish Edition) (1986) 2 copies
1 1 copy
Briefe Aus Amerika 1799-1804 (Beitraege zur Alexander von Humboldt Forschung) (German Edition) 1 copy
Humboldt's Travels 1 copy
Abenteurer und Entdecker 1 copy
Researches, Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America, with Descriptions and… (2011) 1 copy
Viaje a las Regiones Equinocciales del Nuevo Continente. Tomo V : libro 9, índices alfabéticos y de lugares (1991) 1 copy
Asie Centrale, Vol. 1: Recherches sur les Chaines de Montagnes Et la Climatologie Comparée (Classic Reprint) (2017) 1 copy
Kleinere Schriften 1 copy
Второе открытие Америки 1 copy
Versuche über die chemische Zerlegung des Luftkreises : und über einige andere Gegenstände der Naturlehre (1976) 1 copy
Breviario-del-nuevo-mundo. 1 copy
Briefe aus Amerika 1799-1804 1 copy
Cosmos, Vol. 1: Ensayo de una Descripcion Fisica del Mundo (Classic Reprint) (Spanish Edition) 1 copy
Humboldtiana 1 copy
Viaje a las Regiones Equinocciales del Nuevo Continente Hecho en ..., Volume 1 (Spanish Edition) (2009) 1 copy
Auf Steppen und Strömen Südamerikas, Reise in die Äqinokialgengenden des Neuen Kontinents (1968) 1 copy
Ensayo Político Sobre el Reino de la Nueva-España, Vol. 3 (Classic Reprint) (Spanish Edition) (2018) 1 copy
Kosmos. Band 4 1 copy
Kosmos. Band 2 1 copy
Kosmos. Band 1 1 copy
Auf dem Orinoko — Author — 1 copy
Versuche Über die Gereizte Muskel-und Nervenfaser, Vol. 2: Nebst Vermuthungen Über den Chemischen Process des Lebens… (2017) 1 copy
Cristóbal Colón y el descubrimiento de América (Tomo 2): historia de la geografía del nuevo continente y de los… (2012) 1 copy
Studienausgabe, 7 Bde. in Tl.-Bdn., Bd.6, Schriften zur Physikalischen Geographie: Bd. 6 (1989) 1 copy
De distributione geographica plantarum secundum coeli temperiem et altitudinem montium, prolegomena 1 copy
Kosmos und Humanität 1 copy
Alexander von Humboldt über die Sklaverei in den USA : eine Dokumentation mit einer Einführung und… 1 copy
Aspects Of Nature V2: In Different Lands And Different Climates, With Scientific Elucidations (1849) (2008) 1 copy
Aspects Of Nature V1: In Different Lands And Different Climates, With Scientific Elucidations (1849) (2008) 1 copy
Beiderseits des Amazonas. Reisen deutscher Forscher des 19. Jahrhunderts durch Südamerika (1975) 1 copy
Alexander von Humboldt: Die Südamerika-Reise (Einzige von A. v. Humboldt autorisierte deutsche Ausgabe):… (2015) 1 copy
Associated Works
The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science (2015) — Associated Name — 2,374 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Humboldt, Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von
- Other names
- HUMBOLDT, Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von VON
HUMBOLDT, Alexander VON - Birthdate
- 1769-09-14
- Date of death
- 1859-05-06
- Burial location
- Berlin, Germany
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Germany
- Birthplace
- Berlin, Margraviate of Brandenburg
- Place of death
- Berlin, Prussia
- Places of residence
- Berlin, Prussia, German Empire
Paris, France - Education
- University of Göttingen, Germany
Freiberg School of Mines (1792) - Occupations
- naturalist
explorer
geographer - Relationships
- Humboldt, Wilhelm von (brother)
Humboldt, Caroline von (sister-in-law)
Herz, Henriette (friend) - Awards and honors
- Humboldt University of Berlin
American Philosophical Society (1804)
Prussian Academy of Sciences (1805)
American Antiquarian Society (1816)
Linnean Society of London (1818)
New York Historical Society (1820) (show all 20)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Foreign Honorary Member, 1822)
American Ethnological Society (1843)
American Geographical and Statistical Society (1856)
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (foreign member, 1810)
Royal Society (foreign member)
Privy Counsellor (1829)
Chancellor of the Order of Merit (1842)
Pour le Mérite (1842)
Order of the Red Eagle (1844)
Order of the Black Eagle (1847)
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1850)
Copley Medal (1852)
Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (1853)
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Guadalupe (1863)
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Statistics
- Works
- 203
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 1,416
- Popularity
- #18,163
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 19
- ISBNs
- 264
- Languages
- 12
- Favorited
- 7