Authors
Alexander von Humboldt
1769 – 1859
Alexander von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist and explorer who traveled through Latin America measuring mountains, mapping rivers, and studying plants, animals, and volcanoes — including a record-setting climb of Ecuador's Chimborazo higher than anyone had climbed before. His careful observations connected climate, geography, and living things in ways that helped inspire the modern science of ecology. Charles Darwin called him one of the greatest scientific travelers who ever lived, and more places and species are reportedly named after Humboldt than after anyone else in history.
Quotes
“Our imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.”
“A book on nature should produce an impression like nature itself.”
“The glittering stars fill us with joy and inspiration, yet in the canopy of heaven all bodies revolve in mathematical figures.”
“Simplicity is the essential, vital element of description.”