The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America Book

Walls gives an analysis of the work, ideas and influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), organized around the concept of Kosmos. Essentially, the idea of von Humboldt was that science should not be simply about finding laws or principles from which phenomena could be derived, but should be about studying the phenomena themselves in their multiplicity, historical development and interconnections; in other words, a view of science that is more modeled on historical geology, palaeontolgy or linguistics than on physics. The modern science of ecology is basically Humboldtian. What is perhaps more interesting was his advanced social thought. von Humboldt was not only a consistent abolitionist who took every opportunity to attack slavery at a time when there was almost no abolitionist movement, but went farther than most abolitionists and argued for the equality of all nations and peoples -- he rejected the concept of "race" in a biological sense. Even more unusually, he argued for the rights of native Americans in both North and South America; he supported the Creole revolutions against Spain, and was an influence on Bolivar, but also predicted correctly that the independent nations of South America would not succeed unless they incorporated the Indian populations on a basis of equality. He was the first to point to the dangers of deforestation and warn about human induced climate change. (I mentioned these aspects in my review of the Personal Narrative last year, but Walls documents them throughout his work.) He was an important influence not only on scientists and explorers, but also on literature and art -- Walls discusses his influence on Emerson, Thoreau, Melville and Poe and the painter Frederick Church among others. She then asks why he has been so forgotten in the U.S. (though not in South America); she identifies a number of possible causes, beginning with the conscious or unconscious falsification of his legacy by followers who were racists (e.g. Louis Agassiz) or who misinterpreted the idea of Kosmos in a religious sense; the growing specialization and positivism of later nineteenth century science, which was the opposite of his approach; the fact that he was overshadowed by Darwin (who was highly influenced by von Humboldt) and so forth. She argues that the most important factor though was the xenophobia of Americans toward Germans after German unification and especially during and after World War I. She discusses the rediscovery of Humboldtian science by Franz Boas in anthropology and later by the ecology movement. This book covers a lot of material; my only criticism would be that it goes into too much detail on some figures who were only marginally influenced by von Humboldt.