Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a nature researcher and explorer, universal genius and cosmopolitan, scientist and patron. His lengthy Latin American journey from 1799 to 1804 was celebrated as the second scientific discovery of South America. Members of natural science disciplines such as physical geography, climatology, ecology or oceanography see Humboldt as their founder. The masterpiece of his advanced years, the five-volume "Cosmos. Draft of a Physical Description of the World," has remained unique in its comprehensive approach.

Alexander von Humboldt not only invested his heritage in his own studies but also selflessly sponsored other young scholars and talents, among them Justus von Liebig and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.

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Selected Literature

  • Alexander von Humboldts Reise durchs Baltikum nach Rußland und Sibirien 1829,
    aufgezeichnet von Hanno Beck, 2. Verb. Aufl. Stuttgart: Thienemann 1984
  • Alexander von Humboldts Amerikanische Reise,
    aufgezeichnet von Hanno Beck, Stuttgart: Thienemann 1985
  • Botting, Douglas: Alexander von Humboldt, Biographie eines großen Forschungsreisenden,
    4. Edition, München: Prestel 1989
  • Botting, Douglas: Humboldt and the Cosmos,
    München/New York: Prestel 1994
  • Gebauer, Alfred: Alexander von Humboldt.
  • Forschungsreisender, Geograph, Naturforscher,
    Berlin: Stapp 1987
  • Meyer-Abich, Adolf: Alexander von Humboldt,
    Hamburg: Rowohlt 1967 (rm 131)
  • McIntyre, Loren A.: Die amerikanische Reise. Auf den Spuren Alexander von Humboldts,
    2. Edition, Hamburg: Gruner + Jahr 1986
  • de Terra, Helmut: Alexander von Humboldt und seine Zeit,
    2. Edition, Wiesbaden: Brockhaus 1959
  • Slonimski, Chaim Selig: "Zur Freiheit bestimmt. Alexander von Humboldt - eine hebräische Lebensbeschreibung", including an essay about "Alexander von Humboldt und die Juden" by Peter Honigmann, edited by Kurt-Jürgen Maaß, Bonn: Bouvier Verlag 1997

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