Alexander von Humboldt is a massive character in geography and biogeography. He was always fascinated with his surroundings, and modern earth sciences are based on his early findings in the late 18th century. During his lifetime, he wrote 36 books on various topics, including aspects of geography, biology, and astronomy. The reports of his journeys and explorations have contributed significantly to the development of modern earth sciences.
New Ways
One of the most notable and significant works of Humboldt is the Essay on Geography of Plants. The book is based on his expedition during 1799-1804 in South and Central America. While observing nature during his journey, he came across a new way of studying earth sciences. Humboldt brought a new way of delving into earth sciences as he did not restrict his knowledge with only eyesight vision. He always had a larger image of his surroundings and how massive and complex ecosystems may be in his mind. The role of imagination in science was crucial, and Humboldt realized it during his research. His visual representation of matter could even be considered an independent field of science, using the potential of imagination (Humboldt et al. 2009, 183). Although science requires evidence and preciseness to be credible, imagination allows a scientist to measure the accurate scale of something.
Representation Comparisons
Although Humboldt was a great scientist in preparing proper visuals of plants, maps, and lists, in the generation before him, influential scientists studied the environment at the beginning of the 18th century. Carl Linnaeus and Comte de Buffon were the shining stars of earth sciences from Sweden and France, respectively, both born in 1707 and passed away near the end of the 18th century. In his research, Linnaeus preferred whole classification and preciseness, and his illustrations mirror his ideas. He is known as the founder of Taxonomy, as he classified members of flora and fauna depending on their morphology. The rival of Linnaeus, Buffon, was the opposite. He was not interested in categorizing all animals and plants, but he wanted to emphasize their lifestyle and relationship to their surroundings in his visuals (Marshall 2004, 143). By comparing rivals to the next generation of naturalists, Humboldt strived for efficiency. He preferred his visuals to be short and precise and tried to fit the most critical information (Humboldt et al. 2009, 192). His utilization of imagination and creativity in visual representations allowed people to understand the topic better.
Explorations During European Imperialism
European Imperialism lasted around five centuries, beginning with the journey of Columbus and ending in the mid-20th century. The period of imperialism involves the colonization overseas and expanding the territory of a kingdom, thus creating a large empire. During imperialism, nations did not conquer new lands only to gain more resources but also explored new regions to find new knowledge regarding natural sciences. For example, till the 19th century, reports on the latest explorations were mainly based on surface findings, and sub-surfaces were not mentioned. Further explorations of new lands during imperialization have provided access to new knowledge, the vertical dimension of the world. Naturalists of those times understood that layers under the ground are worth explorations and investigations, as they contain various new materials, minerals, and fossils (Scott 2008). The style of inquiries was fundamentally changed after acquiring new information, as researchers started to explore the sub-surfaces of lands equal to surfaces.
It could be noticed that starting from the 17th century, natural sciences such as geography and biology faced notable progress. The progress could be seen in the face of better visualization of new information acquired during explorations and opening new dimensions for investigations. The naturalists of those times represent bravery and curiosity, as they went on journeys that lasted several years to find new information and explore the unknown.
References
Humboldt, Alexander von et al. 2009. Essay on the geography of plants. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Marshall, Julia. 2004. “Articulate Images: Bringing the Pictures of Science and Natural History into the Art Curriculum”. Studies in Art Education 45 (2): 135-152. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/00393541.2004.11651762.
Scott, Heidi V. 2008. “Colonialism, landscape and the subterranean.”Geography Compass 2 (6): 1853-1869.