---
title: "Humboldtian science"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:46:41.092440+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Transformation of Humboldtian science ==
Ralph Waldo Emerson once dubbed Humboldt to be "one of those wonders of the world… who appear from time to time, as if to show us the possibilities of the human mind."
When Humboldt first began his studies of organisms and the environment he claimed that he wanted to "reorganize the general connections that link organic beings and to study the great harmonies of Nature". He is often considered one of the world's first genuine ecologists. Humboldt succeeded in developing a comprehensive science that joined the separate branches of natural philosophy under a model of natural order founded on the concept of dynamic equilibrium. Humboldt's work reached far beyond his personal expeditions and discoveries. Figures from all across the globe participated on his work. Some such participants included French naval officers, East India Company physicians, Russian provincial administrators, Spanish military commanders, and German diplomats. As was mentioned previously, Charles Darwin carried a copy of Humboldt's Personal Narrative aboard H.M.S. Beagle. Humboldt's projects, particularly those related to natural philosophy, played a significant role in the influx of European money and travelers to Spanish America in increasing numbers in the early 19th century. Sir Edward Sabine, a British scientist, worked on terrestrial magnetism in a manner that was certainly Humboldtian. Also, British scientist George Gabriel Stokes depended heavily on abstract mathematical measurement to deal with error in a precision instrument, certainly Humboldtian science. Maybe the most prominent figure whose work can be considered representative of Humboldtian science is geologist Charles Lyell. Despite a lack of emphasis on precise measurement in geology at the time, Lyell insisted on precision in a Humboldtian manner.
The promotion and development of terrestrial physics under Humboldtian science produced not only useful maps and statistics, but offered both European and Creole societies tools for essentially 're-imaging' America. The lasting impact of Humboldtian science is described in Cultures of Natural History, "Humboldtian science illuminates the reorganization of knowledge and disciplines in the early nineteenth century that defined the emergence of natural history out of natural philosophy."

== Revision of Humboldtian science as a concept ==
In recent years, historian Andreas Daum has explored the history of Humboldtian science as a concept and suggests a fundamental revision. He points out that William Goetzman was the first to establish it. Daum distinguishes between Humboldt's science as an individual form of knowledge production and Humboldtian science as a generalization (and useful ideal type), which later generations coined. Humboldt's science constituted a set of  research practices that often defied the ideal of precision and minute comparative data analysis, which Humboldtian science in Cannon's understanding sees as the foundation of large-scale scientific research. Especially in his early years before leaving Europe to the Americas in 1799, Humboldt's research was impromptu, marked by epistemological and personal insecurities, and embedded in his peripatetic way of living. The constant moving around found its expression in an erratic writing style. The revision of Humboldtian Science and a renewed focus on Humboldt’s science undermine the "Humboldt exceptionalism" (Daum) found especially in popular accounts, such as Andrea Wulf's book on the Invention of Nature. This critical approach places Humboldt and his oeuvre firmly in the turbulent epoch he lived in – instead of portraying Humboldt as a man above his time. A review of Humboldtian science encourages historians to study standards of ‘objectivity’ and the belief in instruments yieding precise results as its guarantee. While Humboldt did advocate using widespread comparative measurements and strove to achieve accuracy in his research, his research practices often missed that ideal.

== See also ==
History of biology
History of ecology
History of geography
History of geology
Romanticism
Romanticism in science

== Notes ==

== References ==
Cannon, Susan Faye. Science in Culture: The Early Victorian Period. Science History Publications. NY. 1978
Andreas W. Daum, "Humboldtian Science and Humboldt’s Science". History of Science, 62 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1177/00732753241252478
Andreas W. Daum, “Social Relations, Shared Practices, and Emotions: Alexander von Humboldt’s Excursion into Literary Classicism and the Challenges to Science around 1800”. The Journal of Modern History, 91 (March 2019), 1-37.
Andreas W. Daum, Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography. Trans. Robert Savage. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024.
Jardine, N; Secord, J.A.; Spary, E.C. Cultures of Natural History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, NY. 1996
Nicolson, Malcolm. "Alexander von Humboldt, Humboldtian science, and the origins of the study of vegetation." History of Science, 25:2. June 1987