Who Was Humboldt?

Alexander von Humboldt — whose California namesakes include a county, a university and multiple parks — was the foremost scientist of his time.

Before Charles Darwin, the Prussian geographer was the first to establish an understanding of ecosystems in the early 1800s. “John Muir’s ecological thinking and ideas on forest preservation were hugely influenced by Humboldt. Muir once said: ‘How intensely I desire to be a Humboldt,’” says Andrea Wulf who wrote his biography, The Invention of Nature.

From the New York Times, 2016; Painting by DeAgostini of Humboldt in his library.

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