A Science Explorer: Alexander von Humboldt

Simón Bolívar (1783–1830) was near death. He embarked on a journey along Colombia’s Magdalena River—a final voyage where he reflected on his life and reconciled with his past. During this last journey, Bolívar filtered his experiences through his mind and heart.

In The General in His Labyrinth, Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) narrates Bolívar’s voyage along the Magdalena River. It’s a fictionalized account of El Libertador, who led the independence wars of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Where did Bolívar’s idea of independence originate? Who gave him the courage and vision for this cause?

In The General in His Labyrinth, Bolívar acknowledges his intellectual debt to Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859). He admits that without Humboldt, he wouldn’t have initiated the independence movement.

Bolívar came from a wealthy family, losing his parents at a young age. Although he didn’t belong to a social class expected to lead independence movements, he changed the course of South American history.

But who was Humboldt? Was he a freedom fighter? A Prussian labor rights activist? No, Humboldt was a naturalist.

What was his connection with Bolívar, and why was it significant enough for Márquez to reference him in The General in His Labyrinth?

Humboldt’s Academic Foundations

Alexander von Humboldt studied at the University of Göttingen, a hub of scientific thought in the late 1700s, heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). Professors such as Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann (1743–1815), and Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (1776–1837) were deeply shaped by Kant’s ideas.

Source: https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10309400?page=,1 

Kant opposed the classification system developed by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Instead, Kant described the Earth as a collection of interconnected regions, each with distinct characteristics that harmonized to form a cohesive whole. Göttingen embraced these views, making it a flourishing center for science and intellectual inquiry.

Humboldt was particularly influenced by Blumenbach and Göttingen’s Kantian academic environment. Although born into an aristocratic family, Humboldt’s education was shaped by Kantian physics and experimental natural philosophy under Marcus Herz (1747–1803). In many ways, Humboldt was immersed in Kantian thought long before arriving in Göttingen.

Source: https://www.lbi.org/griffinger/record/236540

Meeting Georg Forster

At Göttingen, Humboldt met Georg Forster (1754–1794), who had accompanied Captain James Cook (1728–1779) on his second expedition with his father Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-98). Forster’s accounts of Cook’s voyages sparked Humboldt’s fascination with scientific exploration.

The voyages of Captain Cook between 1768 and 1780 inspired Humboldt’s curiosity. Captain Cook, on his first scientific expedition with the ship "Endeavour," aimed to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun by traveling to Tahiti. After the expedition, Johann Reinhold Forster wrote a work titled “Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World.” Forster’s observations on ocean currents, reefs, and volcanic activity connected with Kant’s regional differences theory. After meeting Forster, Humboldt’s desire for scientific travel intensified.

Like his father Johann Reinhold Forster, Georg Adam Forster also published a work. In his “Voyage Round the World on the Resolution,” the scientific findings were not as detailed and systematic as in his father’s book. However, the narrative of the journey reflected an aesthetic sensitivity and a broad scientific curiosity. As a natural philosopher, Humboldt discovered the "art of scientific travel" during his development.

Humboldt and Forster further solidified their friendship during a journey from Germany to France and England in 1790. In London, Humboldt met Joseph Banks (1743–1820), who had accompanied Cook on his first voyage.

The journey of Humboldt and Forster was narrated in Forster’s work “Ansichten von Niederrhein von Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England und Frankreich.” The work was highly praised in literary circles of the time, including by the Romantics, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), and Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805). It was a masterpiece where scientific findings and aesthetics were blended at the highest level.

Scientific Travels

In 1791, Humboldt studied mining in Freiberg, and by 1792, he worked as a mining inspector in Prussia. His experiences during this period laid the groundwork for his future scientific endeavors. He left his post in 1797 and turned his full attention to exploration and research.

Humboldt’s inspiration also came from explorers like Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) and Charles-Marie de La Condamine (1701–1774), who traveled to South America to test Isaac Newton’s (1642–1727) theories. Bougainville was the first Frenchman to sail around the world. He compiled his findings in a work titled “Voyage autour du monde.”

Humboldt met Bougainville in Paris before traveling from Paris to Madrid. In 1735, La Condamine embarked on a journey to South America as part of an expedition organized by the “Académie Royale des Sciences.” He documented his work in a publication titled “Relation abrégée d’un Voyage fait dans l’intérieur de l’Amérique méridionale.”

The Journey to South America

Humboldt’s initial plan was to explore Africa, but financial constraints altered his course. He set out with his traveling companion Aimé Bonpland (1773–1858) from Paris to Madrid. There, the Spanish king provided Humboldt with a passport granting him unprecedented access to Spanish colonies. His destination changed to South America.

On June 5, 1799, Humboldt and Bonpland set sail for South America, marking the beginning of a five-year expedition. Armed with books, notebooks, and scientific instruments, they arrived in Cumaná, Venezuela. Over the next five years, they conducted extensive research on the continent’s climate, vegetation, animal species, and human societies.

Humboldt Forum, Berlin (Photo: Arda Tunca)

Humboldt’s findings were groundbreaking. His expedition laid the foundation for a new era of scientific discovery. His multi-volume work, first published in 1807, became an invaluable resource for scientists worldwide. His “Relation historique du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent,” published in three volumes between 1814 and 1825, combined scientific observation with travel narrative.

Humboldt’s “Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent,” which can be regarded as a travel and memoir work, is influenced by Georg Forster’s narratives. The book is filled with such captivating descriptions that, in some sections, it almost feels like reading a literary work.

Photo: Arda Tunca

The scientific findings from South America provided a tremendous treasure for many scientists of the 19th century. Humboldt was a scientific traveler. The information he gathered during his expeditions served as a rich, observation-based resource for other scientists. However, his focus on documenting and sharing his discoveries left him with insufficient time for theoretical work. Yet, he provided future scientists with a nearly unattainable resource that became the foundation for developing theories. For this reason, his own theoretical knowledge quickly became outdated as others built on his findings to create new theories.

A scientist who dedicated his life to scientific exploration, Humboldt used his personal financial resources to fund his work, which significantly boosted 19th-century scientific productivity. His contributions extended beyond theory to awakening interest in developing better scientific instruments and tools.

After his South American expedition, Humboldt went to Paris, where science was flourishing in France. At the Society of Arcueil, he was highly active alongside notable figures like Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748–1822), and Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac (1778–1850). Scientific activities in Paris attracted attention from prominent British scientists such as Charles Lyell (1797–1875) and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911). Charles Darwin (1809–1882) even memorized parts of Humboldt’s Personal Narrative and was so inspired that he wanted to travel to the Canary Islands because of what he learned from Humboldt.

In 1827, Humboldt returned to Berlin and became a significant source of inspiration for many researchers at the University of Berlin. One of them was Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen (1804–1840), who worked closely with Humboldt. Deeply influenced by him, Meyen embarked on his own South American expedition between 1830 and 1832, later publishing “Outlines of the Geography of Plants.” Meyen’s story exemplifies why Humboldt’s theoretical contributions quickly became outdated—researchers from various disciplines drew on his vast knowledge to develop their own theories, pushing science forward in their respective fields.

Humboldt Üniversität, Berlin (Photo: Arda Tunca)

Humboldt’s Legacy

Humboldt’s contributions reached beyond natural sciences. Writers like Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), Victor Hugo (1802–1885), and Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) were captivated by the vivid descriptions in Personal Narrative. Humboldt’s aesthetic sensibility also inspired painters such as Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) and George Catlin (1796–1872), who traveled to South America after reading his work.

Philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) called Humboldt’s work a "scientific encyclopedia." Lord Byron (1788–1824) even mentioned him in Don Juan.

For Humboldt, science was about revealing the harmony of nature. In an 1829 letter to his brother Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), he wrote:

“Nature can be so soothing to the tormented mind, a blue sky, the glittering surface of lake water, the green foliage of trees may be your solace. In such company, it is even possible to forget the reality of one’s personal existence. It lends wings to our feelings and thoughts.”

Humboldt Forum, Berlin (Photo: Arda Tunca)

Humboldt’s Influence on Politics and Philosophy

Humboldt was shaped by the ideas of the French Revolution. He was a revolutionary, rationalist, materialist, and atheist. His anti-slavery stance often led him to protest the injustices he witnessed in South America. French poet Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) described him as a scientific materialist who remained silent on the existence of God.

The intellectual circles of Jena also influenced Humboldt and his brother. Among these circles were Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775-1854), August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767-1845) and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831). Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1712–1778) “Discourse on Inequality” introduced Humboldt to the concept of "natural equality," reinforcing his anti-slavery stance.

Humboldt viewed science and nature as a unified whole. He believed geography and climate significantly influenced society and culture. His work bridged natural and social sciences, leaving an indelible mark on history and inspiring generations of scientists, writers, and artists.