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Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography
An engaging account of the life and work of the legendary polymath Alexander von Humboldt
In this lucid biography, Andreas Daum offers a succinct and novel intrepretation of the life and oeuvre of Alexander von Humboldt (1769―1859). A Prussian nobleman born into the age of European Enlightenment, Humboldt was a contemporary of Napoleon, Simón Bolívar, and Charles Darwin. As a naturalist and scholar, he traveled the world, from the Americas to Central Asia, and recorded his observations in multiple volumes. Humboldt is still admired today for his interdisciplinary outreach and ecological awareness.
Moving beyond the conventional views of Humboldt as either intellectual superhero or gentleman colonizer, Daum’s incisive account focuses on Humboldt in the context of the tumultuous period of history in which he lived. Humboldt embodied the contradictions that marked the age of Atlantic Revolutions. He became a critic of slavery and embraced the emerging civil society but remained close to authoritarian rulers. He dedicated his life to scientific research yet was driven by emotional impulses and pleaded for an aesthetic appreciation of nature. Daum introduces a man passionately striving to establish a “cosmic” understanding of nature while grappling with the era’s explosion of knowledge.
This book provides the first concise biography of Humboldt, covering all periods of his life, exploring his personality, the vast range of his works, and his intellectual networks. Daum helps us understand Humboldt as a seminal historical figure and illuminates the role of science at the dawn of the global world.
In this lucid biography, Andreas Daum offers a succinct and novel intrepretation of the life and oeuvre of Alexander von Humboldt (1769―1859). A Prussian nobleman born into the age of European Enlightenment, Humboldt was a contemporary of Napoleon, Simón Bolívar, and Charles Darwin. As a naturalist and scholar, he traveled the world, from the Americas to Central Asia, and recorded his observations in multiple volumes. Humboldt is still admired today for his interdisciplinary outreach and ecological awareness.
Moving beyond the conventional views of Humboldt as either intellectual superhero or gentleman colonizer, Daum’s incisive account focuses on Humboldt in the context of the tumultuous period of history in which he lived. Humboldt embodied the contradictions that marked the age of Atlantic Revolutions. He became a critic of slavery and embraced the emerging civil society but remained close to authoritarian rulers. He dedicated his life to scientific research yet was driven by emotional impulses and pleaded for an aesthetic appreciation of nature. Daum introduces a man passionately striving to establish a “cosmic” understanding of nature while grappling with the era’s explosion of knowledge.
This book provides the first concise biography of Humboldt, covering all periods of his life, exploring his personality, the vast range of his works, and his intellectual networks. Daum helps us understand Humboldt as a seminal historical figure and illuminates the role of science at the dawn of the global world.
- GenresBiography
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 22, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2025
I am not a fan of biographies –I find most of them to be inevitably dry-- and I am still unsure as to why I decided on picking up this one, even though I was curious to learn more about Von Humboldt.
Daum presents his readers with a succinct account of Von Humboldt’s life. The reader follows him being born into the Prussian nobility at the time of European enlightenment, developing into a true (self-taught!) Renaissance man / polymath driven by an insatiable curiosity that spurs him into a never-ending quest of knowledge and maturing into a prolific writer well into his octogenarian years, trying his best to keep himself at the forefront of expanding frontiers of science. These are packed into six small chapters in a chronological order: Von Humboldt’s childhood and education, his work as a mining inspector and his early publications, his famous expedition through America, his twenty-year stay in Paris, his return to Berlin and journey to Russia, and his final two decades during which Kosmos became the focus of his life.
What fascinated me was the sheer breadth of his interests (ranging from botany, and mining, to history, languages, and anything else in-between) that gradually intertwined with one another, especially when he tried to put them in an all-encompassing work Kosmos in an effort to “demonstrate that sober scientific analysis could give rise to a holistic understanding of the world.” Sadly, as with most of his other works, it remained incomplete, perhaps owing to the author’s zeal for meticulousness and being too thorough. Time and again, he bit more than he could chew.
Among the many ideas that Von Humboldt pursued, I found his theories on “Isothermal lines,” and on “vital force” (Bildungstrieb), as well as his interest in pasigraphy to be the most eccentric.
You do not have to be an attentive reader to realise that Daum is trying to distance himself from previous biographers who depict Von Humboldt as a semi-deity. Instead, he strives to present his subject in a more worldly way (“Humboldt was not venturing into unknown territory. Nowhere was he the ‘first’”) and chooses to emphasize his “human” side, by expanding on his criticism of slavery, and his progressive ideals including civil rights, which were just burgeoning during his time.
The reader also gets to witness how Von Humboldt was able to preserve his idealism within the realpolitik of the times, at least to a certain degree. While careful in avoiding any faux-pas that may upset his politically influential patrons so as not to endanger their financial support for his (mostly precarious) financial situation, Von Humboldt would also stick to his principles and cherished independence: for example, by “opening up” his knowledge to the “wider public” through a series of free public lectures in Singakademie in Berlin, in an increasingly conservative environment, or by lobbying the return of stolen French art works, despite the ire it attracted from his compatriots.
To me, Von Humboldt signifies the last man of an era where self-instruction and expanding oneself into various fields was still possible, as natural sciences, literature and philosophy had not each taken a separate life of their own. Indeed, his science was “open-ended, situations, subjective, experimental, and almost jumpy.”
After him, systematic and focused learning became the norm. We can all appreciate, however, his tireless efforts in the pursuit of knowledge almost ceaselessly throughout his life, and in “transcending the supposed opposition between the “two cultures,” the natural sciences and the humanities” as Daum put it.
Daum presents his readers with a succinct account of Von Humboldt’s life. The reader follows him being born into the Prussian nobility at the time of European enlightenment, developing into a true (self-taught!) Renaissance man / polymath driven by an insatiable curiosity that spurs him into a never-ending quest of knowledge and maturing into a prolific writer well into his octogenarian years, trying his best to keep himself at the forefront of expanding frontiers of science. These are packed into six small chapters in a chronological order: Von Humboldt’s childhood and education, his work as a mining inspector and his early publications, his famous expedition through America, his twenty-year stay in Paris, his return to Berlin and journey to Russia, and his final two decades during which Kosmos became the focus of his life.
What fascinated me was the sheer breadth of his interests (ranging from botany, and mining, to history, languages, and anything else in-between) that gradually intertwined with one another, especially when he tried to put them in an all-encompassing work Kosmos in an effort to “demonstrate that sober scientific analysis could give rise to a holistic understanding of the world.” Sadly, as with most of his other works, it remained incomplete, perhaps owing to the author’s zeal for meticulousness and being too thorough. Time and again, he bit more than he could chew.
Among the many ideas that Von Humboldt pursued, I found his theories on “Isothermal lines,” and on “vital force” (Bildungstrieb), as well as his interest in pasigraphy to be the most eccentric.
You do not have to be an attentive reader to realise that Daum is trying to distance himself from previous biographers who depict Von Humboldt as a semi-deity. Instead, he strives to present his subject in a more worldly way (“Humboldt was not venturing into unknown territory. Nowhere was he the ‘first’”) and chooses to emphasize his “human” side, by expanding on his criticism of slavery, and his progressive ideals including civil rights, which were just burgeoning during his time.
The reader also gets to witness how Von Humboldt was able to preserve his idealism within the realpolitik of the times, at least to a certain degree. While careful in avoiding any faux-pas that may upset his politically influential patrons so as not to endanger their financial support for his (mostly precarious) financial situation, Von Humboldt would also stick to his principles and cherished independence: for example, by “opening up” his knowledge to the “wider public” through a series of free public lectures in Singakademie in Berlin, in an increasingly conservative environment, or by lobbying the return of stolen French art works, despite the ire it attracted from his compatriots.
To me, Von Humboldt signifies the last man of an era where self-instruction and expanding oneself into various fields was still possible, as natural sciences, literature and philosophy had not each taken a separate life of their own. Indeed, his science was “open-ended, situations, subjective, experimental, and almost jumpy.”
After him, systematic and focused learning became the norm. We can all appreciate, however, his tireless efforts in the pursuit of knowledge almost ceaselessly throughout his life, and in “transcending the supposed opposition between the “two cultures,” the natural sciences and the humanities” as Daum put it.
June 10, 2025
It was in grandpa’s room, the inside cover wishes him a happy 100th birthday, a gift from the American Friends of AvH, an org he helped found. I didn’t like it much, I don’t think I’ll remember much or any of what I read, seems written for people who have a baseline knowledge of 1800s European history. Made me curious about it though. Like wow Napoleon conquered and flamed out so hard. What’s all that about? I better go find out.
February 11, 2025
This admirably concise biography offers a factual and nuanced picture of Humboldt's life and work, and critically interrogates previous portrayals. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2025...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews