Andreas Daum, professor in the Department of History at University at Buffalo, the State University of New York lectured at the Library of Congress on Alexander von Humboldt as part of a week-long series of events in Washington, D.C. titled “Alexander von Humboldt – Remapping Global Perspectives.”
Alexander von Humboldt achieved cultural hero status in the United States in the second half of the 19th century. His travels, experiments and knowledge transformed Western science. A lecture at the Library of Congress examined the influence and legacy of the German naturalist and explorer. Andreas Daum presented “Mourning, Celebrating, Revisiting: Alexander von Humboldt in the United States, 1859-2009.”
Between 1799 and 1804, von Humboldt explored Latin America and wrote about his scientific observations. Later, in 1845, he wrote the five-volume “Kosmos,” which attempted to unify the various branches of scientific knowledge. An extraordinary researcher, von Humboldt’s goal was “to examine the interweaving and interacting of all forces of nature.” Von Humboldt also was an early advocate of human rights and a pioneer in the field of ecology.
Lecture date: 05/06/2009
Running time: 80 minutes
View the webcast @ Alexander von Humboldt lecture
Mourning, Celebrating and Revisiting: Alexander von Humboldt in the United States, 1859-2009
