On Friday, 26 February 2016 12:42:03 UTC, Graham P Davis wrote:
I've recently read 'The Invention of Natu The Adventures of
Alexander von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science' by Andrea Wulf, the
winner of the 2015 Costa Biography Award.
This is from the fly-leaf:
"Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist: more
things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers,
mountainranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American
coast, there's a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtrianum
on the moon.
"His colourful adventures read like something out of a /Boy's Own/
story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world's
highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scientists and
poets alike. Napolean was jealous of him; Simon Bolivar's revolution
was fuelled by his ideas; Darwin set sail on the /Beagle/ because of
Humboldt; and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo owned all his many books. He
simply was, as one contemporary put it, 'the greatest man since the
deluge'."
Here's a summary of some of his achievements that I've largely taken
from another book:
1. Geology
1. First to observe 'reverse polarity in magnetism'.
2. Coined the term 'magnetic storm'.
3. Discovered the decrease in Earth's magnetic force from poles to the
equator.
4. Invented the term 'Jurassic'.
5. Propagated the notion of 'seismic waves'.
6. First to show Latin America was not a young continent.
7. Grouped volcanoes along vast subterranean lines.
8. Demonstrated igneous formation of rocks.
9. Found more evidence for continental drift.
2. Botany
1. First to tabulate plant life in connection with meteorology and
geography.
2. Instigated plant geography as a scientific discipline.
3. First to enumerate the plants native to South America before the
conquest.
4. First to bring clinical reports of curare to Europe.
5. Sent guano back to Europe for clinical analysis, leading to guano
fertilizer boom.
3. Anthropology
1. First European to discuss Aztec art, including Aztec calendar.
2. First, in 1825, to seriously calculate the total population of the
Spanish colonies (17,785,000)..
3. First to objectively report on the
American Indians, calculating their population in Hispaniola before
the conquest at 250,000 in 1492, down to 500 in 1538.
4. He discovered Aztec manuscripts.
5. Speculated on the Asian origins of American Indians.
6. A believer in evolution, not in the biblical creation. Described
as a 'pre-Darwinian Darwinist'.
4. Geography
1. His 'isothermal lines' led to a way of comparing climatic
conditions across different countries.
2. Discovered interior of Spain 'forms a high plateau'.
3. Confirmed that the Casiquiare channel linked the Orinoco and Amazon
river systems.
4. Worked out why America was so-called.
5. First to plan the Panama Canal.
6. Prepared a general map of Mexico and Cuba based on astronomical
observations.
7. Drew generally reliable maps of Orinoco and Magdelena rivers.
8. First to measure the cold current off western South America.
5. Ecology
1. He could be said to be the first ecologist, having treated the above
disciplines as all linked together..
2. Might therefore be described as a precursor to James Lovelock. In
fact, his magnum opus, 'Cosmos' was originally to be entitled 'Gaia'.
3. Reported on how the activities of man were changing the climate.
6. History
1. First European to compile an objective picture of the conquest of
America, including many documents on Columbus.
2. Held the world altitude record for some thirty years after climbing
19,700ft up Chimborazo, failing by about 1,000ft to reach the summit.
It was considered the highest mountain in the world at that time. The
summit was finally reached in 1880 by Edward Whymper.
--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.
Posted with Claws: http://www.claws-mail.org/
Kind of puts the refugee crisis in perspective doesn't it?
If a man wants to find enough information to fill an encyclopaedia, all well and good. But if a man wants to get his family out of a war zone then he had better make damn sure he comes alone.
Just shows you what you can't do with modern transport and matching politics. What exactly do they mean by crisis?
OT but when Henry the eighth wanted to both spread his pox and keep it in the family he invented a land free for alternative religions to live in, relatively safely. In doing so, he incidentally created the first supertown: London.