ohann Wolfgang von Goethe heaps high praise upon Alexander von Humboldt when he stated that "In eight days of reading books, one couldn't learn as much as what he gives you in an hour." This quote is found in a most remarkably well written biography by Andrea Wulf, THE INVENTION OF NATURE: ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT'S NEW WORLD (2016), p.28.
Ms. Wulf paragraph containing the quote begins, "During Humboldt's visit, the men met every day . They made a lively group. There were noisy discussions and roaring laughter until late at night. Despite his youth, Humboldt often took the lead. He 'forced us ' into natural sciences, Goethe enthused , as they talked about zoology and volcanoes, as well as about botany , chemistry and Galvanism."
Earlier, Wulf had written:
"During the eighteenth century 'natural philosophy '--what we would call 'natural sciences ' today--evolved from being a subject within philosophy along with metaphysics, logic, and moral philosophy to becoming an independent discipline that required its own approach and methodology. In tandem new natural philosophy subjects developed and emerged into distinctly separate disciplines such as botany , zoology, geology and chemistry . And though Humboldt was working across different disciplines at the same time , he still kept them separate. This growing specialization provided a tunnel vision that focused in on ever greater detail, but ignored the global view that would later become Humboldt 's hallmark."
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Thursday, June 14, 2018
INVENTION OF NATURE
ohann Wolfgang von Goethe heaps high praise upon Alexander von Humboldt when he stated that "In eight days of reading books, one couldn't learn as much as what he gives you in an hour." This quote is found in a most remarkably well written biography by Andrea Wulf, THE INVENTION OF NATURE: ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT'S NEW WORLD (2016), p.28.
Ms. Wulf paragraph containing the quote begins, "During Humboldt's visit, the men met every day . They made a lively group. There were noisy discussions and roaring laughter until late at night. Despite his youth, Humboldt often took the lead. He 'forced us ' into natural sciences, Goethe enthused , as they talked about zoology and volcanoes, as well as about botany , chemistry and Galvanism."
Earlier, Wulf had written:
"During the eighteenth century 'natural philosophy '--what we would call 'natural sciences ' today--evolved from being a subject within philosophy along with metaphysics, logic, and moral philosophy to becoming an independent discipline that required its own approach and methodology. In tandem new natural philosophy subjects developed and emerged into distinctly separate disciplines such as botany , zoology, geology and chemistry . And though Humboldt was working across different disciplines at the same time , he still kept them separate. This growing specialization provided a tunnel vision that focused in on ever greater detail, but ignored the global view that would later become Humboldt 's hallmark."
P.24