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INTRODUCTION

Foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He explored the nature of various countries of Europe, Central and South America, the Urals, and Siberia. One of the founders of plant geography and the study of life forms. He substantiated the idea of ​​vertical zoning, laid the foundations of general geography, climatology.

Many European celebrities visited Russia in the 19th century, but perhaps no one was honored with such a solemn meeting as was given to Alexander Humboldt. And for the 60-year-old Humboldt, a trip to Russia was the fulfillment of his old dream, one might say, the implementation of one of the most important life plans. The greatest naturalist of the 19th century, geographer and traveler traveled along and across Europe, traveled and walked more than one thousand kilometers in South, Central and North America, and only in 1829 he reached Russia.

Already after, many researchers tried to repeat Humboldt's travels and repeated - so much his great project inspired and inspires people. The scientist made a huge contribution to the development of both German and Russian science.

The collection of minerals delivered by the expedition, samples rocks and zoological objects, herbariums of plants are still today a precious integral part three important natural science collections in Berlin. Only the mineralogist G. Rose, who traveled with the scientist, upon returning home, discovered 11 new minerals on the basis of the delivered rock samples, published a two-volume collection of scientific research materials based on the results of the expedition to Russia.

Let us consider in more detail the great journey of the German guest in Russia and go through this path on paper.

humboldt travel russia

1. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT IN RUSSIA

1.1 LONG FEES TO RUSSIA

Alexander Friedrich von Humboldt was fond of botany since childhood. This was facilitated by the place in which he grew up - the castle, next to which there was a vast park with many different plants. In addition, the botanist Karl Wildenov was the teacher of little Alexander. So the scientist showed a love for botany. And Humboldt's love for Russia appeared later, when he began to go hiking with his friend Georg Forster, a participant in one of James Cook's circumnavigations, a writer and scientist (he translated some of the works of M.V. Lomonosov into German). Georg lived in Russia as a child, and perhaps it was he who first aroused Humboldt's interest in our country. Together with Forster, the twenty-year-old Humboldt toured Holland, France, England, Austria, and Switzerland.

At the Freiberg Mining Academy, Humboldt became friends with a Russian student, Vasily Soimonov. This strengthened his desire to visit Russia, and above all the Urals, where Soimonov came from and where he returned after graduating from the academy. Their correspondence continued for many years.

In 1794, Humboldt wrote to Soymonov: "In two years I am retiring and going to Russia, Siberia or somewhere else." At that time, Humboldt worked as a mining engineer in two districts in southern Germany, but in addition to his direct duties, he was also engaged in botany and animal physiology. The book he wrote in Latin about mystic plants attracted the attention of scientists.

In 1796, after the death of his mother, the young scientist received a considerable inheritance - 90 thousand thalers. He decided to invest all the money in a journey, the purpose of which he formulated as knowledge of the physics of the world. He was invited to participate in a round-the-world expedition organized by National Museum Paris. And he gladly agreed. Captain Charles Baudin was appointed head of the expedition. The sailing was postponed several times, but Humboldt could not wait. And then he, together with the French botanist Aimé Bonpland, left for Spain, hoping to get to America from there and join Bodin's round-the-world trip there. This happened in 1799. And so he explored America, Spain and Mexico, made many important discoveries and observations.

Returning in 1804 from a trip to America, the first thing Humboldt said in the French port of Bordeaux to the newspapermen who met him was: "My immediate goal is a trip to Asia." But it turned out that these plans had to be pushed back by more than 30 years.

Upon his return from the New World, Humboldt, first in Paris, then in Berlin, began processing the collected materials, the volume of which turned out to be unusually huge. After all, only several thousand species of plants have been collected, including about two thousand new ones, previously unknown to science. And the fundamental "Geography of Plants" (before Humboldt there was no such science at all) became only one of the thirty volumes of the report on the expedition of two scientists. The publication of such a grandiose work stretched for 27 years.

Humboldt during these years repeatedly received invitations to come to Russia directly from the government of the country and even from members of the royal family. But every time there were some kind of obstacles: either diplomatic complications, or wars. In 1808, the Minister of Commerce of Russia, Count N. P. Rumyantsev, invited him to join the Russian embassy, ​​which was heading to Kashgar and Tibet. Humboldt happily agreed. But then soon Napoleon, having defeated Prussia, entered Berlin, and then invaded Russia.

So year after year passed, but Humboldt did not give up his dream and even developed a rather specific plan: “I am now 42 years old, I would like to undertake an expedition that would last 7-8 years ... The Caucasus attracts me less than Lake Baikal and the volcanoes of Kamchatka... I would like to start by crossing the whole of Asia between 58-60 degrees latitude, through Yekaterinburg, Tobolsk, Yeniseisk and Yakutsk to the volcanoes of Kamchatka and the ocean coast... I don't understand a word of Russian, but I will become Russian, as I became a Spaniard, for everything that I undertake, I do with enthusiasm ... ".

Only 17 years after this letter, Humboldt nevertheless crossed Russian border. The trip might never have taken place if not for the story with the platinum coin.

1.2 HUMBOLDT - THE GUEST OF HONOR OF RUSSIA

In 1822, in the Urals, in the Nizhny Tagil region, a platinum deposit was discovered. It began to be smelted at the Demidov factory, and by 1827, 11 pounds of this noble metal had already accumulated at the Mint. They decided to use platinum for minting coins. They made a sample, Nicholas I liked it very much. But the question arose of how to determine the value of platinum money. And then they remembered: Humboldt wrote something about the platinum currency, which was almost introduced in Colombia. Humboldt was sent to Berlin a pound and a half of Russian platinum with a request to express his attitude towards the platinum project. Humboldt did not support him, citing the bad experience of Colombia. Correspondence went on for a long time, and the "white chervonets" (as they began to be called) had already entered circulation. And Humboldt received a letter from the Russian Minister of Finance, Count E. V. Kankrin, with an invitation to travel to the east of Russia "in the interests of science and the country." The minister also reported that the Russian government had allocated 20,000 rubles in banknotes for the scientist's trip around Russia. It was a big amount.

Humboldt was even released from customs control, he was provided with two carriages, two carriages and 15 post horses to move around the country. Two German colleagues went with him - the botanist and zoologist Christian Ehrenberg, who traveled extensively in Africa, and the mineralogist Gustav Rose. Engineer Dmitry Menshenin was assigned to the expedition from the Russian Mining Department.

A month was allotted to travel around the Urals. First, they sailed down the Volga, then up the Kama, through Perm, near which they examined the ruins of the Great Bulgar and the Kungur cave. From factory to factory, from mine to mine, the motorcade moved, and everywhere it was met solemnly. So we got to Yekaterinburg.

1.3 HUMBOLDT IN THE URALS AND SIBERIA

Humboldt treated everything that was shown to him in the Urals with extreme interest and attention, asked for details, delved into the details. Fortunately, there were no difficulties with the language. The engineer Menshenin, who accompanied the expedition, turned out to be an excellent translator into German and French. At the enterprises there were masters from the Germans with whom Humboldt could talk on mother tongue, the Russian intelligentsia almost all spoke French. Of course, Humboldt did not forget about his old friend - Vasily Soymonov and dreamed of seeing him. He was very upset when he learned that he had been dead for four years. But at the Berezovsky mine, Humboldt was given explanations by the mining foreman Lev Brusnitsyn, who knew Soimonov well. And moreover, Soymonov made great efforts to finally recognize the discovery made by Brusnitsyn after long ordeals. He discovered in 1814 no less than the first placer gold deposit in the Urals and in temperate latitudes in general. Prior to this, it was believed that alluvial gold can only be found in tropical countries, because the main role in its formation belongs to the supposedly hot sun. The gold found by Brusnitsyn was considered an accidental find and did not attach any importance to it. But Soimonov was able to correctly assess the discovery, wrote about it to Alexander I. And immediately proposed his draft mining reform in mining, which included, among other things, the release of serf miners.

The idea was considered seditious, Soymonov was removed from the Urals. However, a few years later, when E. V. Kankrin (also a supporter of the liberation of the peasants) became the Minister of Finance, he established a commission for gold mining in the Urals, headed by Soimonov, which began exploration of alluvial gold using the Brusnitsyn method.

Humboldt highly appreciated the Ural ideas in gold mining and suggested that alluvial deposits as rich as in the Urals could be found in the New World, and above all, in his opinion, in California. And so it turned out.

In Nizhny Tagil, Humboldt inspected the Demidov factories. The owners were somewhere abroad, but the work went on smoothly: cast iron, gold, silver, and platinum ingots were smelted. So, for example, the serfs Efim and Miron Cherepanov, father and son, became famous at the Vyisky plant. Efim Cherepanov was the chief mechanic of all Nizhny Tagil plants for 20 years. Then his son Miron took his place. Together they built two dozen steam engines of various sizes and capacities. At the time when Humboldt met them, they were already thinking about the project of the world's first steam locomotive. And four years later they actually built it.

Once in the Southern Urals, Humboldt drew attention to the erratic behavior of the magnetic needle of the compass, presented to him in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The instability of the arrow was observed in many places. The scientist explained her strange behavior by the fact that there is probably iron ore in the bowels. The assumptions were confirmed. And Humboldt entered the history of science also as the discoverer of the geophysical method of searching for minerals.

Saying goodbye to the Urals, Humboldt sent a letter to Minister Kankrin in St. Petersburg: “The Urals is a real Dorado. I also firmly believe that diamonds will be discovered in the gold and platinum placers of the Urals even in your ministry.”

Indeed, very soon Humboldt was informed that three diamonds had been found near the city of Miass. The forecast came true, and the scientist was happy that he could be of benefit to Russia, which hospitably met him.

Humboldt had yet to visit the Caspian Sea.

In the last routes through the Urals, he was accompanied by two young Russian geologists, graduates of the University of Dorpat G. P. Gelmersen and E. K. Hoffman. Both then became major figures in Russian science. Gelmersen even headed the Geological Committee of Russia (Geolcom).

For days on end Humboldt walked with his companions on the slopes Ural mountains. 15 boxes with rock samples were sent to St. Petersburg. In memory of Nizhny Tagil, Humboldt left a nugget of platinum weighing half a pood, which he himself found in the surrounding mountains.

From the Urals, the Humboldt group moved to the West Siberian city of Tyumen. So they ended up in Asia, where the great traveler strove for a long time, repeating: "Without seeing Asia, one cannot say that you know the globe."

Humboldt drove through the boundless swamps of Western Siberia and the Baraba steppes, saw the ice-bound "squirrels" of Altai. And here, in the mountains, much higher than the Urals, he once again checked his conclusions about the vertical zonality of vegetation, made for the first time in the Canary Islands and South America. But he himself did not rise to the peaks of Altai, since he was no longer young.

From Barnaul the path ran to the town of Kolyvan, oldest center stone processing, there is also the famous Kolyvan lake in a deep granite bowl. All this Humboldt examined with great interest. But the greatest impression was made on him by the Snake Mountain with its "Frolov's miracle". In the bowels of this mountain, hydraulic engineer Kozma Frolov made the underground rivers rotate giant wheels that set in motion trolleys with mined stone. It was processed at the Kolyvan factory, the head there was the son of Kozma Frolov, who also created his “miracle” - a horse-drawn railway from the quarry to the factory.

Humboldt celebrated his 60th birthday in the Southern Urals, in the city of gunsmiths Zlatoust. The assistant director of the plant, Pavel Anosov, became famous for unraveling the mystery of the famous damask steel. Humboldt on his anniversary received from him a blade as a gift, which already had patterns characteristic of damask steel. True, this is not yet the final result of Anosov's work. To obtain real damask steel, it was necessary to carry out hundreds more heats.

Through Uralsk, Buzuluk, Samara, Syzran, Tsaritsyn, looking at the salt lakes of Elton and Baskunchak, Humboldt reached Astrakhan. This city was then called the gate of Asia. Already on the approaches to it, in the Caspian lowland, travelers were met by huge standing flat stones with barely noticeable faces and hands folded on their stomachs - stone women. Undoubtedly, Asian nomads installed them here. Humboldt was struck by the resemblance of the women to the stone statues of the ancient Indians in Peru. In the people of the Old and New Worlds, the imagination worked the same way. This is his conclusion. This idea of ​​the unity of nature, earth, man invariably attracted the thought of Humboldt. He constantly found confirmation of it, discovering in Europe or in Asia what he had already seen in America.

The meeting with mud volcanoes with them in the Caspian Sea was also not unexpected for him. He saw the same miniature volcanoes in the steppe regions of Colombia and in the Magdalena River basin. But here Humboldt was mistaken, considering mud volcanoes to be relatives of fire-breathing giants, with whom he became closely acquainted in South America. Humboldt believed that it was the activity of volcanoes that created the grandiose mountain structures of Central Asia.

“I cannot die without seeing the Caspian Sea,” Humboldt once said. And so he and his companions sail on the river steamer of the merchant Evreinov to the expanses of the world's largest sea-lake. The voyage was short-lived: fifty miles from the coast and back. This was enough to take samples of water and silt, which allowed the naturalist Christian Ehrenberg, who accompanied Humboldt on the expedition, to write the first study on the microbiology of the Caspian, laying the foundation for the science of lakes - limnology.

In the Caspian, Humboldt said goodbye to Asia. In October, his return journey began. In Moscow, he made a presentation on magnetic phenomena on Earth, visited Moscow University, where he was seen by student Alexander Herzen. Then he spent a whole month in St. Petersburg. At a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, I read a report on Russia's progress in the field of natural sciences.

The journey through Russia turned out, of course, not as grandiose as through America, but even the most general calculations made by engineer Menshenin, who accompanied the German guests, are impressive. For 23 weeks, the journey amounted to 15.5 thousand miles, including 700 miles - along the rivers, about 100 - along the Caspian Sea, 53 times crossed the rivers, including 10 times across the Volga, 8 times - through the Irtysh, 2 times - through the Ob.

This list cannot but include many interesting meetings, conversations with statesmen, with fellow scientists, with artisans. There were also unexpected encounters. For example, in Moscow, Humboldt met P. Ya. Chaadaev, who was then working on the first of his “philosophical letters”. In St. Petersburg I met 30-year-old Pushkin, who had just returned from the Caucasus. Undoubtedly, it was extremely interesting for Pushkin to talk with the great scientist and close friend of Goethe.

The meeting took place at the daughter of the famous reformer M. M. Speransky in the presence of a mutual friend of both Humboldt and Pushkin - the pianist Maria Shimanovskaya, who was friends with Goethe. According to the memoirs of Shimanovskaya, Pushkin told her: “Isn't it true that Humboldt looks like those marble lions that are on the fountains. Fascinating speeches just beat out of his mouth.

Humboldt returned home to Berlin at the very end of 1829 and lived for almost three more decades. Thirty volumes of his "Journey to the equinoctial countries of the New World", which laid the foundations integrated science about the Earth, were published even before his trip to Russia. He was very happy that this work was done. And after returning from Russia, he took up the three-volume monograph “ central Asia". No wonder he said: "Without seeing Asia, one cannot say that you know the globe." In his journey through Russia, Humboldt touched only the edge of this vast area, but his powerful mind tends to broad generalizations. And he did it, using all available literature, including ancient Chinese sources. In the (largely speculative) diagram of the location of mountain ranges in Asia, he built, of course, mistakes were made. He also exaggerated the role of volcanoes in the formation of the Asian relief.

Correction of the "Humboldt scheme" became the goal of a number of expeditions of Russian scientists in the 19th century. But nevertheless, the descendants unanimously admit that this book of his is a colossal step forward in the knowledge of the nature of Asia and the whole Earth.

The last greetings from Russia to the 90-year-old Humboldt were brought by the poetess Karolina Pavlova. Her visit was a response to an invitation received in St. Petersburg thirty years ago, and Humboldt greeted her with the words: "the other would not have waited for you."

It so happened that the last thought of the great explorer of the Earth, put by him on paper, is addressed to Russia. He wrote about the rocks of Altai, about the amazing color of the local granites, marbles, porphyries, and about their skilful polishing by Altai stone cutters.

CONCLUSION

After analyzing and considering in detail the journey of the German scientist in Russia, we can draw the following conclusions. Of course, the naturalist studied Russia in detail from the side of science, botany and geography. His great work is proof of this. However, it should be noted that the journey was undertaken not only for scientific reasons, like previous undertakings, but was an economic and political assignment, which Humboldt, nevertheless, for his part, wanted to turn into a brief scientific expedition.

This external occasion, in turn, adapted to the personal image of Alexander Humboldt. One can see in him not only a naturalist, but one must also see a chamberlist and, in the end, a humanist who, on the one hand, clearly understood the economy of the state, and on the other hand, strove to embody the ideals of the Enlightenment and the revolutionary time.

Finally, Alexander Humboldt also had to explore the limits of Enlightenment liberalism and itself in a phase of relative discovery. Russian Empire. For science in the Russian Empire, the journey, the contacts that were made, and the examination of questions and approaches that resulted from it, had a lasting impact that can be detected in our time, at least in geography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Alexander Humboldt and Russia. J. Stadelbauer. Relga magazine. - 2016. - No. 16.

2. In the footsteps of Humboldt in Russia. V. Makarova. Journal "Science in Siberia". - 1999. - No. 21.

3. Encyclopedia Around the World. Access: http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/nauka_i_tehnika/biologiya/GUMBOLDT_ALEKSANDR.html

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Humboldt (Humboldt) Alexander (September 14, 1769, Berlin - May 6, 1859, ibid.), German naturalist, geographer and traveler. Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1800), honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1818). Born in the family of a Saxon court elector.

Brother of W. Humboldt. In 1787–92 he studied natural science, economic sciences, law and mining at the universities in Frankfurt an der Oder and Göttingen, at the Hamburg Trade and Freiberg Mining Academy. In 1790, together with G. Forster, who had a profound influence on him, he traveled through France, the Netherlands and England.

Our happiness depends on more on how we meet the events of our lives than on the nature of the events themselves.

Humboldt Alexander von

The first scientific work written by G. from the standpoint of the then dominant Neptunism was devoted to basalts (1790). In 1792–95, G. served in the Prussian mining department. In 1793, his botanical and physiological study, Freiberg's Underground Flora, was published, in which G. summarized his observations on cryptogamous plants. His experiments on the irritability of nerve and muscle fibers are described in a monograph of 1797.

In 1799-1804. together with the French botanist E. Bonpland traveled to Central and South America. Returning to Europe with rich collections, he processed them in Paris for more than 20 years, along with other prominent scientists.

In 1807–34, the 30-volume Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804 was published (Russian translation, vols. 1–3, 1963–69), most which consists of descriptions of plants (16 vols.), Astronomical, geodetic and cartographic materials (5 vols.), the other part - zoology and comparative anatomy, a description of the journey, etc. Based on the materials of the expedition, G. published a number of other works, including “Paintings nature” (1808, Russian translation, 1855 and 1959).

Every truth goes through three stages in the human mind: first - what nonsense!; then - there is something in it; Finally - who does not know this!

Humboldt Alexander von

In 1827 he moved from Paris to Berlin, where he acted as chamberlain and councillor. Prussian king. In 1829 he traveled across Russia - to the Urals, Altai and the Caspian Sea. The nature of Asia was covered by him in the works "Fragments on the Geology and Climatology of Asia" (vols. 1-2, 1831) and "Central Asia" (vols. 1-3, 1843, Russian translation, vol. 1, 1915).

Later, G. tried to summarize all scientific knowledge about the nature of the Earth and the Universe in the monumental work "Cosmos" (vols. 1 - 5, 1845-62, Russian translation, vols. 1-5, 1848-63; 5th volume remained unfinished). This work of G. is an outstanding work of advanced materialistic natural philosophy of the first half of the 19th century. Works G. rendered big influence on the development of natural science (C. Darwin, C. Lyell, N. A. Severtsov, K. F. Roulie, V. V. Dokuchaev, V. I. Vernadsky, and others).

Designed by him methodological principles about the materiality and unity of nature, the interconnections of phenomena and processes, their interdependence and development were highly appreciated by F. Engels (see Dialectics of Nature, 1969, p. 166). He mentioned G.'s name among other scientists whose creative activity served to develop the materialist trend in natural science and made a hole in the metaphysical way of thinking.

In grief, in misfortune, they console themselves with dreams.

Humboldt Alexander von

Proceeding from general principles and applying the comparative method, geography created physical geography, which was called upon to elucidate regularities on the earth's surface, in its solid, liquid, and air shells. G.'s views served as the basis for general geography (general physical geography) and landscape science, as well as plant geography and climatology.

G. substantiated the idea of ​​a regular zonal distribution of vegetation on the earth's surface (latitudinal and vertical zonality), and developed the ecological trend in plant geography. In connection with the latter, he paid great attention to the study of climate and for the first time widely used average statistical indicators to characterize it, developed the method of isotherms and compiled a schematic map of their distribution for the North. hemisphere.

G. gave a detailed description of the continental and coastal climates, pointed out the reasons for their differences and the processes of formation.

Never has a traveler been given such unlimited freedom of action, never has the Spanish government placed such confidence in a foreigner.

Humboldt Alexander von

The range of G.'s scientific interests was so wide that his contemporaries called him "Aristotle of the 19th century." He was connected by friendship and scientific interests with I. V. Goethe, F. Schiller, P. Dallas, D. F. Arago, K. Gauss, L. Buch, in Russia - with A. Ya. Kupfer, F. P. Ditke, N. I. Lobachevsky, D. M. Perevoshchikov, I. M. Simonov, V. Ya. Struve.

G. was a champion of humanism and reason, opposed the inequality of races and peoples, against aggressive wars. A number of geographical objects are named after G., including ridges in Central Asia (the Ulan-Daban ridge) and North America, a mountain on about. New Caledonia, glacier in S.-W. Greenland, a river and several settlements in the USA, a number of plants, a mineral and a crater on the moon. The name of the brothers Alexander and Wilhelm G. is the university in Berlin (GDR).

Alexander von Humboldt photo

Alexander von Humboldt - quotes

Alexander von Humboldt. Vestnik Evropy Filippov-Chekhov Alexander

Alexander von Humboldt in Russia and his last works (1871. Book 7.)

Preparation of the expedition and travel around Russia - Publication of the results of the expedition - "Cosmos" - Meteorological works - Measurement medium height continents

In the general scientific activity of Alexander von Humboldt, his trip to Russia occupies a fairly prominent place. In addition to the connection of this journey with the interest of scientific observations, the theater of which for Humboldt became the Russian territory and its nature, it is also important for us because in this journey, besides Humboldt himself, some of the Russian personalities of the twenties, with whom he then came to contact.

Not so long ago, Humboldt's correspondence with Count Kankrin was published abroad. The latter, finding it difficult to read the fuzzy handwriting of the former, ordered to make copies of them, transferring those of them that seemed to him for some reason important for the Ministry of Finance, to his archive. Count Kankrin presented the original letters to Privy Councilor Kranichfeld, an enthusiastic admirer of Humboldt, from whom they were inherited by the former professor of St. Petersburg University Schneider. When the son of the latter, embarking, at the request of his father, on the publication of this correspondence, found out that it was also being prepared for publication by Mr. Russov, an employee in the Ministry of Finance, they united in order to better achieve a common goal. The case really benefited from this, since they were allowed access to the archives of the Ministry of Finance, and both publishers took advantage of this to supplement the above-mentioned correspondence with various extracts from the cases, which is why the letters are with the necessary explanations.

Platinum served starting point departures in Humboldt's relations with Russia. Opened in 1822 at private Nizhny Tagil factories, then soon at state-owned Goroblagodatsky, finally Ural, by 1827 it had accumulated in the mint in the amount of 11 pounds. The government wanted to use it as a new type of coin. A trial copy of it was minted. Emperor Nicholas liked it so much that on August 19 of the same year he even approved the drawing of the coinage. The main difficulty, however, remained ahead: due to the extreme fluctuation in the value of the new metal, it was necessary to determine its value as a metal. We turned, of course, to foreign scientists and specialists for a solution, including Humboldt. Having forwarded 1½ pounds of new metal in Russia through Count Alopeus, Count Kankrin, in a letter dated August 15, 1827, asked for his advice on the above issue. Finding no technical obstacles to the introduction of platinum as a coin, he pointed out, however, firstly, the difficulty for an unaccustomed eye to distinguish platinum from silver; and secondly, its indefinite value as a metal. Count Kankrin hoped to eliminate the first inconvenience by the fact that he intended to give the new coin the weight of a ruble or a fifty-kopeck piece, and the value of a fifty-kopeck piece or a quarter, with a coinage completely different from them, and specific gravity metal was supposed to serve as a guard against forgery. Much more difficult was the second of these circumstances: platinum, not distinguished by the beauty of gold and silver, could not become an object of widespread use; its processing was not easy, it was also impossible to call it a necessary metal (according to the concepts of that time); it was mined in small quantities. All this did not provide data for determining the value of platinum as a coin, especially when the dominance of gold and silver in the coin market was strengthened for centuries. Using the experience of Colombia, where platinum had already been introduced as a coin, Count Kankrin derived its ratio to silver as 5: 1 and calculated, with a coin weighing 4 spools, 82 11/25 shares, its price was 582 ½ (after 575.26) silver kopecks , and with minting costs of 17 ½ (after 24 kopecks) kopecks - 6 rubles. But since the number 6 did not fit the decimal division of our monetary system, he proposed instead of a coin of 4 spools 82 shares to put into circulation half-weight coins - 2 spools 41 shares and equate it with a price to a chervonets, which, although it costs exactly 2 r . 85 kopecks, but circulates in trade at a price of 3 rubles. If, however, this ratio turned out to be too high, then Count Kankrin considered it possible to change it to 4 j: 1, and then a coin weighing 4 gold rubles 82 dollars would cost 488 kopecks in silver, and from 12 kopecks, estimated at the cost of minting - exactly 5 rubles. ser. To this calculation, Count Kankrin added that a spool of platinum with washing, cleaning, etc. cost 67 k.p., traces. 4 gold $82 cost the treasury 385 kopecks. The rest was her profit.

Presenting these considerations to the discretion of Humboldt, Count Kankrin most convincingly asked him to tell him his opinion both about the value that should be given to individual coins, and especially about the most correct ratio of platinum to silver.

Humboldt, answering this request, at the very beginning of his letter, already pointed out the inconvenience of a platinum coin, which he admitted only monnaie de luxe. According to the information he collected from his South American friends in England and France, it turned out that the prices of platinum in the case were extremely unstable. So, within 5 years, from 1822 to 1827, they from 3 thalers per lot in 1822 reached 7 and even 8 thalers in 1825, and two years later fell again to 5 thalers per lot.

Humboldt, following his return from America, also advised the Spanish government, who turned to him for advice on the introduction of Spanish platinum coins in the colonies. He pointed out that already at the time of the Congress of Vienna, Dr. Bohlmann tried to persuade the government to recognize for this coin, already introduced at his insistence in Colombia, a price determined by common consent. Platinum ore was formerly exported in considerable quantities from this country, until its government restricted this sale by severe restrictive measures. The consequence of this was a fall in prices for platinum in Colombia itself, and at the same time, a limitation in its extraction, and, as a final result, an increase in prices for it in Europe, which may again fall with the discovery of platinum mines in the Urals. But from this it is clear that a new fluctuation in the prices of this metal may again be caused by some circumstance, as a result of which the inhabitants of Colombia would begin again to develop the mines they had abandoned. The main culprits, however, why the Colombian platinum coin did not go into circulation were neighboring states that did not allow it to circulate at home.

With peoples in close contact with each other, it is currently impossible to even think about introducing a local coin, even in a state as vast as Russia. If the relationship between silver and platinum, which is so difficult to determine, will not be recognized by the countries with which Russia is in trade relations, then even within it it will be impossible to secure an unchanging, constant price behind it.

Assuming that, according to the approximate calculation made, the entire extraction of platinum will reach up to a hundred poods annually, then, if the grade of platinum is estimated at 70 thalers, it will deliver to Russia only 489,000 thalers. Is it worth it, asks Humboldt, to expose Russia's monetary system to fluctuations for the small profit that could be made through the introduction of a platinum coin?

The difficulty in introducing the new metal into use as coinage lies not so much in the need to overcome the habits of the peoples, but in the fact that gold and silver find very extensive use in addition to coinage. So, according to the calculation of the prefect of Paris, gold and silversmiths are processed in France alone in the late 20s. not less than 2,300 kilograms of gold, 62,300 kilos of silver, so that, according to Humboldt's approximate calculation, in the whole of Europe, the amount of gold circulated annually in articles and luxury goods was not less than 9,200, and silver - 250,000 kilos, which together represented value of 87 million francs.

Assuming the extraction of American, European and Siberian mines of 870,000 kilos of silver (valued at 193 million francs) and 17,300 kilos of gold (valued at 59 1/2 million) and assuming Necker's calculation, according to which the amount of precious metals recycled into products is equal to half of the total mass already existing in products, Humboldt calculated that gold and silver craftsmen in Europe use almost 1/5 of all gold and silver mined annually in American, European and Siberian mines (worth more than 44 million francs).

How insignificant, in comparison with these metals, with already established use, is the use and demand of plain, cold-colored platinum. Despite many invaluable and irreplaceable qualities, it will never, according to Humboldt, become a fashion item or general use. This limited use is one of the most important reasons why its prices fluctuate by 30 and even 40% even at a time when platinum is only in limited quantities on the European market. Therefore, Humboldt doubted that with such limited use metal, it was possible to expect ever not only the establishment of a certain price of it, but even fluctuations within rather narrow limits.

Even assuming that as a result of a more rational, free exploitation of gold and silver mines, the amount of these precious metals, greatly increased, would lower their value as tokens of exchange, nevertheless, limits would be put on this decrease by using them as material for products. The limit of this decrease in value, according to Humboldt, platinum will never reach. If its production increases significantly and it is convertible into coins, then, being excluded from factory processing, it will play the role, having accumulated in a given state, of heavy, inconvenient paper money. Thus, the good intention of the government - to benefit the owners of platinum mines so that they receive a platinum coin instead of metal - would not be achieved.

Russian platinum will, of course, have an impact on the value of platinum in general on the world market, but it cannot essentially determine it, much less dominate it. Its definition will depend on supply and demand. Therefore, to the extent that merchants will be able to make payments in platinum coins in Russia, to the extent that the ratio of these payments will determine the price of platinum on the market. But as soon as demand decreases, this will immediately be followed by a drop in the price at which the new metal was put into circulation in Russia.

To this Humboldt added that, in his opinion, the value of a ruble coin with a face value of 5 82/100 ser. rub. too significant, heavy and inconvenient for trading. The minting of a smaller platinum coin, with a value more corresponding to the coin already in circulation, would have the inconvenience that, due to its insignificant value, it could easily be lost. In a word, Humboldt did not advise the Russian government to introduce a platinum coin, just as he had not advised the Spanish government to do so before.

In order, however, to make productive use of this gift of nature and somewhat revive this type of mining industry, he proposed to mint orders from platinum, destining them to replace rings, snuff boxes, etc. gifts, for which, according to European concepts, Russian sovereigns are so generous. At the end of this letter (dated November 19, NS, 1827), Humboldt apologizes that the letter was not written by his hand, since his handwriting has become very indistinct due to rheumatism in his hand, which he received in the forests of the Upper Orinoco, where he months on knew the other bed like rotting leaves. Not wanting to bother Count Kankrin, he instructed to whitewash his letter, concluding it with a desire to be able to personally get to know him if he was destined to fulfill his long-standing intention - to visit the Urals, Baikal and, Humboldt added at that time, probably in a short time Russian Ararat .

Map of Humboldt's Russian expedition (after Alexander von Humboldt. Reise durchs Baltikum nach Russland und Sibirien. Lenningen, Edition Erdmann, 2004)

In order not to interrupt the thread of the negotiations between Humboldt and Count Kankrin regarding the introduction of a platinum coin in Russia, we will end their presentation here, despite the fact that they lasted simultaneously and in parallel with other questions, much more important in their consequences than the present one. Count Kankrin did not deviate from his idea. In his reply (dated December 8/20) he tries to weaken the force of Humboldt's arguments above by the following considerations:

“I intended,” he objects, “to introduce in Russia, in the form of an experiment, une monnaie de luxe, and, moreover, not suddenly flood its money market, but gradually. Moreover, the possible loss in case of failure would not be significant, since the treasury mines a little of this metal, and leaves private breeders at their own discretion to turn their platinum into coin or not.

Against the objection that over time platinum capital might accumulate too much, from which losses might occur, Count Kankrin noted that he had no intention of accepting platinum coins at a certain price in the treasuries - since by law only paper money and copper are accepted in them. ; silver and gold - at the rate. The latter would be with a platinum coin. In addition, referring to the testimony of Humboldt himself that the then mining of this metal in America did not exceed 38 pounds, the count was not afraid of too much of it, even if part of the coin was poured into products. The latter circumstance is even desirable, since this will support the value of the coin.

Count Kankrin agreed that the platinum coin might be more deceitful than the gold coin, but this would not cause great losses, if only the quantity put into circulation of this coin was insignificant.

In particular, he insisted on the desire of the factory owners to mint a platinum coin.

As for the possibility of mixing it with silver, Count Kankrin hoped to eliminate this inconvenience by giving the former the value of some silver, with double the weight of the latter. Moreover, the common people in Russia hardly often deal with a coin of high denomination, having most often small pieces of paper and silver in their hands.

The count did not see the possibility of turning platinum into medals, because their number is not so significant as to spend 50-100 pounds of annually mined metal for this purpose; besides, the most beautiful platinum medal does not surpass even a copper one in outward elegance.

In the event that both of the above calculations of Count Kankrin turned out to be too high, then he proposed to change them in order to accept a platinum coin weighing a ruble at 4 rubles, and weighing fifty dollars - at 2 rubles. ser. This would change the previously accepted basis by 3 j to 1. A platinum coin weighing a ruble would have a value of 3 r. 74 k. Ser., and with a coin income of 26 k. - 4 rubles; weighing fifty dollars - 2 p. The spool would thus cost 2 r. 86 Ѕ k. ass., and the coin would still bring income to the breeder, or none of them would give it to the mint. Taking the cost of mining 10 spools of crude platinum at 15 r. 8 k. ass., and cleaning costs 2 p. 40 Ѕ k. (which together will be 17 r. 48 Ѕ k.), the breeder will receive 7 spools of pure metal, the spool of which will cost him 2 r. 49 Ѕ k. Net income, except for coin income, will be equal to 37 k. from the spool.

However, this insignificant income does not correspond to trading prices. According to information received from London, one can sell an ounce of platinum in bullion at 20 shillings or 24 rubles. ass.; thus a spool of platinum costs 3 r. 29 k. ass. A spool of silver costs 23.703 k. ass., so that, on the basis of this calculation, the ratio of platinum to silver would be like 3.73: 1, while it was taken above as 3 *: 1, therefore too low.

Finally, Count Kankrin concludes, without making an experiment, it will never be possible to decide what fate will befall platinum as a coin. That she deserves it, no one will doubt it.

All of Humboldt's arguments against the platinum coin were a voice crying in the wilderness. Count Kankrin informed him on April 25 (May 7), 1828, that by the decree that took place the day before, she, by the will of Emperor Nicholas, was put into circulation, and he "set himself a special pleasure - to send him one of these white chervonets."

Less than a month had passed since Humboldt's letter of November 19 was sent, when he himself, probably unaware of the consequences of the courtesy expressed by him at the end of his message, received (December 5/17) through Count Kankrin an invitation from Emperor Nicholas to undertake a trip to the east of Russia "in interest of science and the country" at public expense. For the modern Russian, this letter is especially interesting because it depicts the conveniences of traveling in Russia, which even after 40 years can be enjoyed by everyone wandering our territory: the absence of the most modest, according to European concepts, comfort, the charm of fuss with coachmen and stationmasters, etc. In conclusion, the count reassures Humboldt with the assurance that customs officials will be instructed not to impede his entry into Russia! ...

Humboldt, busy finishing the publication of his enormous work - traveling around America and the lectures that he gave, did not have the opportunity to leave Berlin before the next spring of 1829. As for the monetary conditions that Count Kankrin asked about at the behest of Emperor Nicholas, Humboldt accepting the costs of travel offered to him by the Russian government, from St. Petersburg to Tobolsk and back, refused any monetary reward, reprimanding himself only one favor, if his travel and advice would bring any benefit to the country, to receive in the form of a reward - not for sale - "Fauna of Russia" Pallas! But accepting the offer to travel on public account, Humboldt seemed to be trying to justify himself in this decision.

Having received, he wrote to Count Kankrin, one hundred thousand thalers by inheritance, he confessed, not fearing to deserve a reproach of extravagance, that he had spent them - for scientific purposes. Now, the only means of his existence is 5,000 thalers, which he received from the king of Prussia, and since he often provided assistance to young scientists from this amount, it is clear that he would not be able to travel 14,500 miles at his own expense, especially with the famous chemist and mineralogist Gustav Rose and a servant. He did not pronounce special luxury to himself, mentioning only that he was "used to cleanliness." I didn’t ask for special attention to my face, but I would be very grateful “for courtesy"... He also asked for permission to collect minerals and rocks, adding: "not for sale", since he does not have his own collection, but "for museums": Berlin, Paris and London, to which he presented the collections he made in America.

With the approaching date for Humboldt's departure to Russia, Count Kankrin addressed him with an official letter (dated January 18/30, 1829), in which he explained that Russia could not allow the journey he was undertaking to cost him any financial sacrifices; that, on the contrary, she will be able to express her gratitude in due time.

Now he informed him that

1) for the journey from Berlin to St. Petersburg and back, a bill of 1,200 chervonets is attached. Upon arrival at last city 10,000 rubles in banknotes will be issued to him for further travel. Probable overexposure will be returned upon return to St. Petersburg.

2) An order will be made so that the customs in Palanga does not disturb either him or Professor Rose.

3) Two crews have been ordered for him: a 4-seater carriage and a Polish cart for tools and servants.

4) To accompany him, he will be given a mountain official who knows one of the foreign languages, and a courier to order horses, etc. Payment of runs, vodka to coachmen, repair of crews is made at public expense.

5) The choice of the path and direction of travel is entirely at the discretion of Humboldt. For its part, the Russian government only wishes that this journey would benefit science and, as far as possible, the industry of Russia, especially mining her.

6) The heads of the provinces and all mountain boards will be ordered to promote the goals of travel, allocate apartments, if necessary, make experiments - put at the disposal of its mountain officers and workers.

7) As soon as Humboldt determines his route, directions will immediately be drawn up about the sights of the places he will follow.

8) The collection of minerals, rocks, etc. is allowed freely, as well as full disposal of them is provided.

It is not difficult to draw a parallel between Humboldt's journey through America and Russia. An unknown young man, without any outside help, through only private means, satisfying his thirst for knowledge and discovery, he wandered under the tropics, all the while rarely knowing where he would lay his head in the coming night, very often under the naked sky, in the neighborhood of the wild population and predatory animals, in the hollows of rotten trees or on antediluvian boats, often hiding from the persecution of ignorant officials, who, due to a lack of understanding of the higher goals of science, saw in him a person dangerous to the country they patronized. Under what conditions, different from this position, he entered Russian soil, we have seen above.

On May 20, Humboldt and both of his companions left Petersburg. They had previously agreed to share the work ahead of them. Humboldt took over the observation of magnetism, astronomical geography, and generally undertook to present a general geognostic and physical picture of northwestern Asia; Gustav Rose - took over - the results of the chemical analysis of mined minerals and rocks, as well as keeping a travel diary; Ehrenberg - engaged in botanical and zoological work.

The first, it seems, measurements taken by Humboldt on Russian territory were barometric measurements of the Valdai heights, determined by him at the highest point, 800 feet above the surface of the sea. Belokamennaya could not fail to take the opportunity to show her hospitality, arranging, in addition, something like a university parade or a divorce in honor of a general from science. However, these celebrations delayed our traveler for a short time in Moscow. After 4 days, he was already on the road to Kazan, where he was especially occupied with the ruins of the Bulgarian capital Bryakhimov (the present village of Bolgars), and from there to Yekaterinburg, where, as well as in the vicinity, he visited all the remarkable factories, paying attention not only on their technical, but also on their economic structure.

The position of the serfs and craftsmen did not escape his observation, although he only slightly hints about this to Count Kankrin. For mining, he says about some plant, 150,000 pounds of iron in a year, neither in England nor in Germany do not need several thousand workers! However, he adds, even half a century will not be enough to eradicate those harmful consequences that result from the abnormal condition of the working class. What, he asks, can be expected from factory labor, which at the same time cuts wood, casts pig iron, and mines gold ore? Here are the simplest elementary concepts about the division of labor do not find any application! Humboldt was no less struck by our forestry, if that name can be called, even half a century after his trip, our treatment of wood as a fuel and how building material. He was horrified by the devastation of the forests, prophesying as a consequence of them the death of iron production in Russia, especially since everything that was shown to him as coal turned out to be brown coal mixed with manganese.

From Count Kankrin's reply we see how much he valued every indication that was aimed at the benefit of the country. In addition to the Institute of Technology, the establishment of which he was proud of in front of Humboldt in one of the letters written to him back in Berlin, he informs him in response to his above remarks that it is possible to save our forests only by rational management, as a result of which he takes measures to increase the forest institute. Unfortunately, a man so practical and with such broad political views as Count Kankrin lost sight of another factor in activity, both private and public: honesty and conscientious performance of duties, without which technical training, even the best will not reach the target.

Count Kankrin also fully sympathizes with Humboldt in that he completely refused to study the political life of the inhabitants of the Urals and their history, not because, he adds, that this study is especially difficult, but mainly because such a study instills almost contempt for humanity, the mass of which permanently obey or brute force, trickery or bribery. Open complaints, he concludes, lead to no practical result; it is better to act in silence, trying to improve the life of mankind as much as possible.

In another place, Count Kankrin, informing Humboldt about the successes of Russian weapons in Turkey and mentioning the interest with which society follows them, comes to the conclusion that what destroys always makes a much stronger impression on a person than what creates. We know, he concludes, who destroyed the Delphic temple, but the name of its builder remained, if we are not mistaken, unknown to us!

Humboldt arrived in Omsk in mid-August from Yekaterinburg via Nizhny Tagil, Bogoslovsk, Tobolsk, Barnaul, Zmeinaya Gora, Ust-Kamenogorsk, the border post on the Chinese border of Bata (Honimaile-Khu), Semipalatinsk. On this path, in the midst of the heavily raging in the Baraba steppe and in the vicinity of Barnaul anthrax tormented by insects, for protection from which they had to wear masks, which, in turn, interfered with free breathing, Humboldt and his companions collected a very rich zoological, geognostic and botanical collection. Ehrenberg, who was in despair that the Berlin flora, which had pursued him all the way to Yekaterinburg (on this path he found only 40 of the 300 species of Siberian plants proper), finally calmed down and was satisfied with the collection. The meetings did not spare Humboldt even in Omsk; in the Cossack school they greeted him in 3 languages: Russian, Tatar and Mongolian.

Humboldt, having visited Petropavlovsk, Troitsk, Miass, Zlatoust, returned again to Miass, where on September 2 (14), 1829, he celebrated on the Asian slope of the Urals the day of the 60th year of his birth, on which, as he expressed himself in a letter to Count Kankrin, he sincerely regretted that there is so much left unfulfilled, but meanwhile the age is approaching when strength leaves a person. He thanked the count for giving him the opportunity to call, however, this year the most important in his life, since it was now that the mass of ideas collected by him in such a vast space during his previous travels seemed to be concentrated in one focus. On this day, celebrated by the Miyass and Zlatoust mountain officials, the Damascus saber was the last to be presented to Humboldt, a peaceful worker of science! An important event in the mining industry was the discovery of tin in the Urals. Calling this ridge real Dorado, he predicted the discovery of diamonds on it, concluding this from the striking similarity of the geognostic structure of the Urals with Brazil. On the other hand, he pointed to the constant loss of 27% of silver at the Barnaul plant; so, for only 3 years, from 1826 to 1829, instead of 3,743 poods, which were in the mined ore, only 2,726 poods of pure silver were smelted. In some factories, this loss even reaches 50%!

On their way to Astrakhan - Humboldt expresses that he cannot die without seeing the Caspian Sea - the travelers visited Verkhneuralsk, Orsk, Orenburg, the Iletsk defense. In one of the last two cities (it is not clear from the letter in which exactly), Humboldt met a poor Cossack, Ivan Ivanov, son of Karin, who, of course, acquired, not without great difficulty, the works of Cuvier, Latreille, etc., and, what is most interesting, who correctly identified the plants and insects of his steppe.

In Astrakhan, the inevitable presentations of all the officers of the garrison and deputations from merchants: Armenian, Bukhara, Uzbek, Persian, Indian, Tatar-Turkmen and even Kalmyk. A great opportunity to study ethnography! After a 6-day study of the northern shores of the Caspian Sea, our travelers through Sarepta, Novokhopyorsk, Voronezh, Tula arrived on November 1 (13) in St. 100 versts.

Returning to Berlin on December 28, 1829, Humboldt began the scientific development of the treasures he had collected. These occupations required, however, frequent and personal contacts with French scientists, with whom he was connected by many years in Paris. This circumstance, as well as the diplomatic mission entrusted to him by Friedrich Wilhelm III in September 1830, was the reason for his trip to France, from which, however, he returned in the spring of 1831. The choice of Humboldt for the diplomatic mission may seem strange, but he finds his excuse is that he was persona grata in France, which is accustomed to consider him her own, despite his German origin. Therefore, in view of the delicate political issues that arose in the diplomatic sphere as a result of the Polish rebellion and put Prussia in a difficult position, the choice of a person, although without a diplomatic past and not experienced in high school politics, found justification and did not even remain without favorable consequences.

After this return, in addition to academic studies, Humboldt devoted all his free time to communication with his brother Wilhelm, whose days after the death of the latter's wife were numbered, and after his death (April 8, 1835), he, at the request of the deceased, began to publish his works, between whom a study on the Kawi language first appeared, for which Alexander collected a significant part of the materials. The fruit of the labors of Alexander Humboldt during this period of his activity were: Fragments de géologie et de climatologie asiatiques, vol. 2 ; " Central Asia: Studies on mountain ranges and comparative climatology”, 3 vol. Besides whole line articles placed in the memoirs of the Paris Academy and Poggendorff's "annals", concerning the most diverse subjects of natural science, the listing of the titles of which would take up whole pages. In the new (3rd) edition of his "Views of nature» several chapters were added, containing the latest research and the main results of his travels in Russia. The same era of Humboldt's life includes the creation "Cosmos", which arose, however, in its original form from the lectures he gave in 1827-28. in Berlin. This work, as is well known, is the consummation stone of contemporary natural-historical information; without concluding new, hitherto unknown data, he sets out in in general terms everything that was obtained by science before the middle of the 19th century. Although it is not devoid of in some (good, however) sense of a compiler character, we should not lose sight of the fact that Humboldt's main goal was precisely to bring together the apparently disparate, and to show a common connection between them. Apart from Humboldt, no one was up to such a task, and no one but him would have dared to undertake it, since no one except him contributed more by his own activity to the progress of natural science. In all branches of it, with the exception of only astronomy, he acted at different times as an independent researcher and even the creator of some parts of it. "Views of nature» and "Space" available to Russian readers from translations.

With the movement that has embraced the natural sciences in recent times, any essay on them is short-lived. New facts, new research are constantly changing them. This common destiny progress will not be avoided, of course, and "Space". Much in it even now, a quarter of a century after its appearance, is already outdated, but despite this creation, it will retain for all eternity its proper value as a boundary, as a boundary pillar of natural science, showing to what extent it reached by the middle of the 19th century and what it has made progress since then. In this sense for "Cosmos" immortality was strengthened and Humboldt erected in it a literary monument, which Germany has the right to be proud of.

Meteorological works of Humboldt in the last period of his activity, set out in Fragments asiatiques and in volume 3 asie centrale, focus on the content of water vapor and heat of air. We have seen before that, depending on the heat of the air, the amount of water vapor in a given space also changes and it can be determined by its actual value (absolute dampness), but it is also possible to compare the amount of water found with that which could be contained in the air without going over into a drop-liquid state at a given temperature (relative dampness). Humboldt noted on August 5, 1829 at one o'clock in the afternoon in the steppe near the village of Platovskaya the lowest relative humidity - (16/100), known until that time. Humidity in the east of Europe decreases as you move from west to east; Thus, while in Moscow it rains annually for 205 days, in Kazan it decreases by 90 days, and in Irkutsk it drops to 57.

Above were indicated the circumstances found by Humboldt that influence the height of the average temperature of Europe and smooth out its extremes. In Asia, these factors do not exist: the mainland of this part of the world moves much higher to the north, up to 75 °; north coast it is in contact with winter limits polar ice and even the summer limit of the latter moves away from it only slightly and, moreover, for a very short time. The north of Asia is not protected from the northern winds by mountains; while to the south of Europe we see a huge area of ​​tropical Africa, in the south of Asia we meet only an insignificant number of relatively small islands and a huge stretch of water, as you know, not so warm as the mainland. Finally, Asia is a solid mass of land, inside it rises significantly, not dissected like Europe, and, moreover, cut off from the ocean in the west. The consequences of these conditions are: a decrease in temperature, a southward deviation of isothermal lines, a sharply defined continental climate, i.e., a significant difference between the heat of individual seasons.

Humboldt testifies that he never met such magnificent grapes anywhere as in Astrakhan (with an average annual temperature of 10.2 °), but meanwhile in Astrakhan and even much further south, at the mouth of the Terek, therefore under the same degree of latitude as Avignon and Rimini, the centigrade thermometer drops 25-30° below zero, so burying grapes in the ground for the winter is an urgent need. The same circumstance hinders winemaking in America north of 38° latitude.

Not being able to follow the numerous determinations of the temperature of various localities made by Humboldt, and the comparisons derived from them and climatic features Asia, we will stop for a moment on his research on the causes of curvature of temperature curves. At the time when Humboldt published the study on isotherms mentioned in the previous article, he was forced to draw these lines in those places where observations did not exist, in arbitrary directions, connecting the two extreme points for which observations were made, and for intermediate points between them did not exist, - by a line connecting the first; but it was impossible to tell whether they corresponded to reality. Since then, scientists, recognizing all the extraordinary importance of Humboldt's observations and following the path indicated in developing them, each in his own area tried to supplement and correct the first Humboldt isotherms with numerous observations. These individual observations accumulated in such a quantity that Humboldt not only had the opportunity to correct the uncertainty of his first isotherms, but he even turned to the study of the causes of the curvature of these lines. Apart from the investigations on this subject, placed in the monograph mentioned by us before (in the article on heat); they were supplemented and significantly developed in the third volume asie centrale and in Fragments asiatiques.

Taking as a starting point the state of the earth's surface, at which lines of the same temperature, whether these are isotherms, isotheres, or isochimenes, are directed parallel to the equator, we obtain for individual temperature points that, at least for the present state of temperature inside the globe, completely depend on the astronomical position of the latter and its relation to the sun. We will get the so-called Maran solar or sunny climate. But in fact, there are many extraneous influences that change it and determine the real climate. Therefore, if we wish a priori to determine the latter, we must examine all these influences, so to speak, weigh them in their mutual relation to each other. Of course, an absolutely correct, unmistakable solution to this question will hardly ever be completely possible, but what can be achieved with real means was obtained through the efforts and labors of Humboldt.

The circumstances that raise the temperature, i.e., bring the temperature curve closer to the pole, are in the temperate zone: the proximity of the western coast, conditions conducive to the formation of peninsulas and lakes; the dominance of winds heading from the south or from the west; chains of mountains that protect the area from the winds blowing from colder countries; rarity of swamps; clear sky during the summer; the proximity of the sea current, which brings water warmer than the water of the surrounding seas.

The circumstances that cool the temperature, hence bending the isotherms towards the equator, are: the elevation of the place above the surface of the sea in the absence of extensive flat elevations; lack of bays in the outline of the country, extending to the pole to the limits eternal ice, or a country representing between its meridians at the equator the sea and the complete absence of a mainland; chains of mountains that block the access of warm winds with their direction; the proximity of open mountains, on the sides of which the winds, so to speak, slide over them during the night; large forests; the presence of swamps that form small underground glaciers (glaciers) until the very middle of summer; cloudy sky in summer, interfering with the action of sunlight on the surface of the earth; clear skies in winter, conducive to the emission of caloric.

From the foregoing, it is clear that almost all warming conditions are present in the climate of Europe, while in the climate of Asia we see the opposite; therefore, in the last isotherm should be significantly curved towards the equator, which is confirmed by observation.

Humboldt then proceeds to consider individual influences from among those indicated above. Starting to study the relationship between the continent and the waters and investigating the influence of large masses of the latter, he found that due to the smooth surface and the regularity of the form, the uniformity of the solar influence is also noticed, which is why the heat curves on large seas only slightly deviate from their normal direction, i.e. directions parallel to the equator; although perfect correctness in this respect is not noticed. It is somewhat disturbed by sea currents, which in turn partly depend on the contours of the coast. The rays of the sun, as you know, penetrate partly into the water. Falling on it, part of them heats its surface, while the other part of them, weakened by what was already lost, heats its lower layers. We observe a different phenomenon on the mainland: here its constituent parts do not let the sun's rays through, which are thus concentrated on the surface of the earth, thereby raising the temperature of the area. Hand in hand with this elevation during the day comes a more significant cooling during the night and during the winter. From this it follows that the daily and annual fluctuations in temperature must be much greater on the mainland than on the water. The influence of the temperature conditions of the water on the mainland should be the stronger, the greater the extent of the dividing line between the two elements in comparison with the mass of the mainland. We know from physics that any influence in nature is stronger at its source, weakening as it moves away from it. Applying this rule to the present question, we are convinced that if the continent is of such a shape that not a single point of it is located at a very significant distance from the coast, then the above-mentioned influence of water manifests itself on it much stronger than on a continuously formed continent, the middle of which lies at a considerable distance from the sea. Therefore, the more a country appears to be broken up by bays protruding into it, the more it moves away from the shape of a circle, which, as you know, with the same plane, represents the smallest periphery, in other words, the more significant the coastline of the country in comparison with its area, the stronger will be reflected inside this countries the influence of the sea. Of all the parts of the world, Europe seems more broken than others by the lands and seas that jut into it. According to Humboldt's definition, the length of the coastline of Europe is 3.03, Asia - 2.41, Africa - 1.35, New Holland - 1.44, South America - 1.69, North America - 2.89, accepting this line equal to one, if each of these parts of the world represented a circle. From this we see that the shape of Europe deviates from the shape of a circle much more than all other parts of the world, and consequently the influence of the sea on the continents must be much more significant here. What does it consist of? We know from daily experience that a cold body near a warm body cools it down, while a warm body placed near a cold one heats it up. Since the sea is colder than the mainland in summer, and warmer in winter, it is clear that it will cool the mainland in summer and warm it in winter; in other words, it will smooth out the extremes of the seasons, and we will get differences between the continental and coastal climates. Europe differs predominantly in the former; Asia - at least the northern part of it - is the last.

Comparing numerous observations of temperature between turning circles, Humboldt found that between them the average air temperature over solid ground was 2.2°C higher than that over the sea. If this air, heated in tropical regions, is directed to higher latitudes, then it must necessarily have a stronger effect there. But the continents are distributed both on the globe in general and under the tropics, very unevenly. This is evident from the fact that if we assume that between the tropics the area of ​​the continents not occupied by water is equal to 1000 parts, then 461 parts of them will fall on Africa, 301 parts on America, 124 parts on New Holland and the Indian archipelago and 114 on Asia. Thus America and Africa together account for 762 parts enclosed between 132º degrees of longitude, while the remaining 227º degrees comprise only 238 parts. Therefore, the temperate zone, receiving through the winds (between which the south winds are dominant) air from tropical areas, should be warmest where it falls. maximum tropical mainland. This one is more than other parts temperate zone privileged and is - Western part ancient world.

Humboldt studied the effect of soil on temperature very carefully. It is known from physics that caloric passes from one body to another that is in contact with it in such a way that the temperature of the colder increases and the warmer decreases until the difference in heat of both is smoothed out. This exchange of heat takes place gradually in such a way that all parts of the body closest to the source of heat represent the most high temperature than those farthest from it. In addition to this conduction of heat, the latter is communicated to other bodies by means of radiation; it consists in the fact that the latter proceeds from a heat source in all directions, and moreover, in a straight line, heating all objects encountered on this path as the temperature of the source itself rises. The sun is the most important source of heat for the earth; the temperature of the earth depends on its rays. All objects that are on it emit their own heat, but on the other hand, due to this common property of them, they receive it from others, and since the number of emitted rays, in other words, their consumption decreases with increasing cooling, then as long as the conditions remain the same, the balance is not disturbed. Expenditure does not exceed income. As long as the body expends more heat than it receives, it cools down; but as it cools, the flow decreases and with it the loss also decreases. Finally, the expenditure balances with the income. The same thing happens when the body heats up due to increased intake; the higher the temperature resulting from this heating, the stronger and stronger becomes its consumption. Attitude various bodies to the rays of the sun is also not the same. Just as there are bodies that pass rays of light through themselves (transparent bodies), so, on the other hand, in nature we see bodies that pass heat rays through themselves, the so-called heat-transparent bodies.

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Humboldt (Humboldt) Alexander (September 14, 1769, Berlin - May 6, 1859, ibid.), German naturalist, geographer and traveler. Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1800), honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1818). Born in the family of a Saxon court elector.

Brother of W. Humboldt. In 1787-92 he studied natural science, economic sciences, law and mining at the universities in Frankfurt an der Oder and Göttingen, at the Hamburg Trade and Freiberg Mining Academy. In 1790, together with G. Forster, who had a profound influence on him, he traveled through France, the Netherlands and England.

Our happiness depends more on how we encounter the events of our lives than on the nature of the events themselves.

Humboldt Alexander von

The first scientific work written by G. from the standpoint of the then dominant Neptunism was devoted to basalts (1790). In 1792-95, G. served in the Prussian mining department. In 1793, his botanical and physiological study, Freiberg's Underground Flora, was published, in which G. summarized his observations on cryptogamous plants. His experiments on the irritability of nerve and muscle fibers are described in a monograph of 1797.

In 1799-1804. together with the French botanist E. Bonpland traveled to Central and South America. Returning to Europe with rich collections, he processed them in Paris for more than 20 years, along with other prominent scientists.

In 1807-34 a 30-volume Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804 was published (Russian translation, vols. 1-3, 1963-69), most of which is descriptions of plants (16 vols.) , astronomical, geodetic and cartographic materials (5 vols.), the other part - zoology and comparative anatomy, a description of the journey, etc. Based on the materials of the expedition, G. published a number of other works, including Pictures of Nature (1808, Russian translation. , 1855 and 1959).

In 1827 he moved from Paris to Berlin, where he served as chamberlain and adviser to the Prussian king. In 1829 he traveled across Russia - to the Urals, Altai and the Caspian Sea. The nature of Asia was covered by him in the works "Fragments on the Geology and Climatology of Asia" (vols. 1-2, 1831) and "Central Asia" (vols. 1-3, 1843, Russian translation, vol. 1, 1915).

Later G. tried to summarize all scientific knowledge about the nature of the Earth and the Universe in the monumental work Cosmos (vols. 1 - 5, 1845-62, Russian translation, vols. 1-5, 1848-63; unfinished). This work of G. is an outstanding work of progressive materialist natural philosophy in the first half of the 19th century. G.'s works had a great influence on the development of natural science (C. Darwin, C. Lyell, N. A. Severtsov, K. F. Rul'e, V. V. Dokuchaev, V. I. Vernadsky, and others).

The methodological principles developed by him on the materiality and unity of nature, the interconnections of phenomena and processes, their interdependence and development were highly appreciated by F. Engels (see Dialectics of Nature, 1969, p. 166). He mentioned G.'s name among other scientists whose creative activity served to develop the materialist trend in natural science and made a hole in the metaphysical way of thinking.

Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (German Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt, September 14, 1769, Berlin - May 6, 1859, Berlin) - German geographer, naturalist and traveler, one of the founders of geography as an independent science; younger brother of the scientist Wilhelm von Humboldt.

Humboldt's scientific interests were unusually varied. He considered his main task "to comprehend nature as a whole and to collect evidence of the interaction of natural forces"; for the breadth of his scientific interests, his contemporaries called him Aristotle of the 19th century. Starting from general principles and applying the comparative method, he created such scientific disciplines as physical geography, landscape science, ecological geography of plants. Thanks to Humboldt's research, the scientific foundations of geomagnetism were laid.

He paid great attention to the study of climate, developed the method of isotherms, compiled a map of their distribution and, in fact, substantiated climatology as a science. He described in detail the continental and coastal climates, and established the nature of their differences.

Member of the Berlin (1800), Prussian and Bavarian Academies of Sciences. Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1818).

On the paternal side, the Humboldt brothers came from the Pomeranian bourgeoisie. Their grandfather served as an officer in the Prussian army and in 1738 was elevated to the rank of nobility, thanks to personal merit and a request submitted. His son Alexander Georg was also a Prussian officer, distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War. After retiring in 1766, Alexander Georg moved to Berlin, where he was appointed Chamberlain of the Crown Prince and married a wealthy widow, Baroness Maria Elisabeth von Holwede (née Colomb). Mary Elizabeth came from a family of French Huguenots who fled to Prussia from violence and oppression. Louis XIV. Thanks to his marriage, Alexander Georg von Humboldt became the owner of the suburban Tegel Palace and surrounding lands ... Alexander Georg and Mary Elizabeth had two sons: Wilhelm (June 22, 1767) and Alexander (1769). The half-brother of Alexander and Wilhelm (from their mother's first marriage) was the feeble-minded Ferdinand von Holwede (1763-1817).

The future scientist was baptized in the Berlin Cathedral. His godfathers were the future King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig and Minister Baron von Finkenstein.
Tegel Palace, Humboldt family property. Remodeled by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1820-1824.

Alexander and Wilhelm received an excellent education at home. Their first tutor was Joachim Heinrich Campe, later a well-known teacher and linguist. In 1777, Christian Kunt, an adherent of Rousseau, who possessed encyclopedic knowledge, became the educator of the boys.

The education of the Humboldt brothers was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment, the ideas of Kant and Rousseau. Their teachers were the philosopher and writer I. Engel, the historian H. Dom, the theologian and expert in ancient languages ​​Loeffler. Alexander was considered a difficult, non-learning child, but he showed an interest in nature and had an artistic talent.

In 1785, Humboldt met K. Nicolai and M. Mendelssohn.

In 1787 he entered the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, where he studied economics and finance. He also attended lectures on medicine, physics, mathematics and the science of the ancient world.

In 1788 Alexander came to Berlin, where he studied Greek and technology. A good friend of Humboldt, K. L. Vildenov, in the future - director of the Berlin Botanical Garden and a well-known specialist in plant taxonomy, helped him master botany.

In the spring of 1789, the Humboldt brothers arrived at the illustrious University of Göttingen, where such eminent scientists as K. Heine (classical literature), I. Blumenbach (anatomy), A. Kestner (mathematics and physics), G. Lichtenberg (physics and astronomy) taught, I. Eichhorn (oriental languages ​​and history) - and Alexander enthusiastically attended lectures. Thanks to K. Heine, he became interested in archeology and prepared his first, unpublished, scientific work- "About the fabrics of the Greeks." In the same year he made a trip to Germany. At the University of Göttingen, Alexander wrote his first geological work, On the Rhine Basalts (Mineralogische Beobachtungen über einige Basalte am Rhein. - Brunswick, 1790). There he became friends with the naturalist and ethnographer Georg Forster, a member of James Cook's second round-the-world expedition.

Together with G. Forster, they traveled outside the German lands: having set off in March 1790 from Mainz (along the Rhine), they visited the Netherlands, England, reached the shores of France and arrived in Paris in June. The result of this expedition, according to Humboldt, was "a strong and suddenly awakened passion for travel and visiting distant tropical countries." Soon he came to Hamburg, where he studied mineralogy and botany, and also, as a student of the trade academy, studied languages. He continued his botanical studies in Berlin, and eventually prepared several scientific notes, one of which was devoted to the phenomenon of accelerated germination of seeds under the influence of chlorine.

In the summer of 1791, Alexander came to Freiberg to study geology at the mining academy under A. G. Werner (June 14, 1791 – February 27, 1792). In August 1791, accompanied by one of his friends from the academy, I. K. Freiesleben, he visited Bohemia. In the winter of 1792, having completed his studies, Humboldt returned to Berlin:

Alexander's abilities... have already shown themselves in full splendor. He possessed extensive and versatile information not only in natural science, but also in history, legal sciences, classical literature ... spoke several languages, published a number of independent studies ... and pondered plans for future travels ... To this must be added complete material security.

In 1792, Humboldt received the post of Oberbergmeister in Ansbach and Bayreuth. The occupations connected with this position fully corresponded to Humboldt's desires, and he zealously set about them. Trying to encourage and develop the mining industry, he studied its history through archival documents, restored the abandoned ore mines in Goldkronach, set up a mining school in Steben, studied gases in mines and tried to invent a safe lamp and breathing apparatus for use when a lot of carbon dioxide or other harmful gases accumulated in the mine. In 1792-1794 he carried out numerous inspection trips to the lands of Germany.

In parallel with this practical work, Scientific research: articles and notes on geology and botany were published, including Freiberg's Mystery Flora (lat. Florae Fribergensis Specimen, 1793), Aphorisms from the Chemical Physiology of Plants (the results of Humboldt's experiments on the irritability of plant tissues, nutrition and respiration of plants). The same period includes studies of "animal electricity", published a little later under the title "Experiments on irritated muscular and nerve fibers(German: Versuche über die gereizte Muskel- und Nervenfaser. Berlin, 1797). He performed part of the experiments on himself, with the assistance of Dr. Shaldern: Humboldt's back served as the object of research.

These works already showed the characteristic features of Humboldt as a scientist: the desire to find common ground seemingly heterogeneous phenomena, distrust of metaphysical principles (in "Aphorisms ..." he still stands for a life force that acts contrary to the laws of physics; but already in studies on animal electricity, he sets out a completely rational view of life, which was established in science only in 1830-1840 years), the insight of a genius ahead of his time (his views on electrical phenomena in animal tissues were confirmed 50 years later in the works of Dubois-Reymond; the opinion about the role of mineral salts as an essential component of plant nutrition was established in science only after the works of Saussure and Liebig) . At the same time, the task of his life was determined - “the physical world description”.

"Physics of the World" is a collection of a number of sciences, some of which were founded by Humboldt himself. Finally, the desire to convey scientific findings in fiction, figurative form(the fruit of which were subsequently "Pictures of Nature" and "Cosmos") appeared in the article "On the Rhodes Genius" (German: Die Lebenskraft, oder der rhodische Genius) - a beautifully written, but rather pretentious allegorical depiction of the "life force" (printed in the magazine Die Horen Schiller, 1795).

He was familiar with many high-ranking officials and persons close to the court; the crown prince personally knew both Humboldt brothers and appreciated them. All this often forced Alexander to take part in the affairs of the state. So, he accompanied Hardenberg, who traveled to Frankfurt am Main for negotiations with the Dutch and English commissioners (1794). After the conclusion of the Basel Peace, Humboldt was sent to Moreau, the French commander-in-chief, to negotiate the possessions of Hohenlohe (the Prussian government was afraid of their devastation by the French) and successfully completed the assignment given to him.

For a long time, Alexander did not make long trips, because this was contrary to the will of his mother, who did not support such aspirations of her son. But when Maria Elisabeth von Humboldt died (1796), he retired, determined to take part in a serious scientific expedition. At the same time, he could count on his share of the inheritance - about 85,000 thalers).

But to implement these plans was not easy due to the unstable political situation in the world. Military operations prevented the trip of the Humboldt brothers to Italy, where Alexander intended to inspect active volcanoes. The Nile trip to Aswan did not take place either, since Humboldt's wealthy companion, the English Lord Bristol, was arrested for political reasons. Military spending led to the impoverishment of the French state treasury, so the members of the Executive Directory decided to postpone to a later date the circumnavigation of Captain Bodin, with whose crew Alexander and his new friend, the young botanist Aimé Bonpland, hoped to go on a trip. An attempt to join the French scientific expedition to Egypt was also unsuccessful: the French fleet was utterly defeated by the British at Aboukir, which interrupted the sea communication of the republic with Alexandria.

Preparing for a long trip, Humboldt lived in different cities of Europe: Jena, Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Marseille. In Jena, he studied the basics of astronomy under the guidance of F. von Zach; there he met Goethe and Schiller. In Salzburg, Alexander conducted research in geology and meteorology.

More than other cities, Alexander liked the "capital of the world", where he received recognition and met many brilliant scientists of that time. Here he met Bonpland, who also passionately dreamed of scientific expeditions to distant countries. Together they came to Marseille to sail from that port to Tunisia. When it became apparent that political circumstances were an insurmountable obstacle to travel to Africa, Alexander and Aimé went to Spain, where for some time they carried out topographical, meteorological and botanical surveys.

In Madrid, Alexander met with King Charles IV and received the highest permission to conduct scientific research in the Spanish territories in America and the Pacific. Humboldt and Bonpland sailed for New Spain aboard the Pizarro corvette on the night of June 5, 1799, when the British ships blockading the port of A Coruña were forced by a storm to withdraw to the open sea.

Alexander thoroughly prepared for the expedition, taking on board the corvette about 50 of the latest instruments and instruments for scientific measurements and observations, including a telescope, spyglasses, sextants, quadrants, ship's chronometer, inclinator, declinator, cyanometer, eudiometer, hydrometer, precipitation gauge , hygrometer, barometer, thermometer, electrometer. At first, Pissarro headed for the Canary Islands, making a six-day stop in Tenerife. Here, friends climbed the Teide (3718 m), observing the change in altitudinal zones, and Humboldt had "an idea about the relationship between vegetation and climate, which he put as the basis of botanical geography." They spent the night in a cave located near the top of the Teide volcano, and in the morning they examined its crater.

Further navigation continued for 22 days. During this time, the ship crossed the Atlantic and on July 16, 1799, anchored in Cuman (Venezuela). Here, the researchers were forced to leave the corvette due to an epidemic on board.

In September, Humboldt visited a Catholic mission in Caripa and explored the cave of Guacharo, in which he discovered a bird species new to science - the guajaro (Steatornis caripensis Humb.). Returning to Kumana, Alexander observed the Leonid meteor shower (on the night of November 11-12, 1799). Later, he published a description of this astronomical phenomenon, which greatly contributed to understanding the periodic nature of such events.

Humboldt and Bonpland spent two months in Caracas, and then went overland to Apure. The path lay overland through the llanos, where in the swamp the travelers witnessed a fierce battle between electric eels and horses, which was staged by the Indians to facilitate the capture of eels. From Apure they set off along the river of the same name on a pirogue with five Indians. They intended to sail to the Orinoco and climb to its upper reaches to check whether the basin of this river is connected to the Amazon system. Finding that two river systems connected by the Casiquiare channel, the researchers, moving downstream the Orinoco, reached the city of Angostura, the capital of the Spanish province of Guayana (now Ciudad Bolivar in Venezuela).
Humboldt and Bonpland in the Amazonian jungle. Painting by Eduard Ender. 1850. Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Berlin.

Humboldt wrote to Wildenow:

For four months we spent the night in the forests, surrounded by crocodiles, boas and tigers, which here even attack boats, eating only rice, ants, cassava, pisang, Orinoco water and occasionally monkeys ... In Guayane, where you have to walk with your head and hands covered due to the multitude of mosquitoes that fill the air, it is almost impossible to write in daylight: you cannot hold a pen in your hands - insects sting so fiercely. Therefore, all our work had to be done by fire, in an Indian hut, where the sun's beam does not penetrate ...

On November 24, 1800, the friends sailed for Havana. In Cuba, they met with the famous plant collector John Fraser. Fraser's son helped transport part of the collected herbarium to Europe. The study of nature and political geography The Antilles took several months, during which extensive material was collected for the Essai politique sur l′île de Cuba.

Then Alexander and Aimé again crossed to the South American mainland, and on March 30, 1801, the second stage of the expedition began in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. A long time was devoted to the study of the Sabana de Bogota plateau. The further route ran through the passage of Quindiu (Cordillera) in Quito. It was a tiring and dangerous journey: on foot, through narrow gorges, in pouring rain, without shoes that quickly wore out and fell apart.

Be that as it may, in January 1802 the travelers reached Quito. In this part of America they remained for about a year, studying its rich nature from every possible point of view. Humboldt climbed the volcanoes Pichinchu, Cotopaxi, Antisana, Tungurahua, tried to climb the hitherto unconquered Chimborazo (a crevice blocked the path, estimates of the height to which Humboldt climbed vary from 5350 to 5878 m) and others. During his stay in Callao on November 9, 1802, Humboldt observed the passage of Mercury across the disk of the Sun). Along the way, he studied the culture and language of the Incas, as well as pre-Inca manuscripts written in the Purugway language, which was once widespread in Quito. In Quito, a third participant joined the trip - the independence fighter Carlos Montufar.

From South America, the researchers went to Mexico, where they spent about a year. Humboldt determined the geographical position of various points, studied the activity of volcanoes - including the famous Horullo, formed in 1759 - made many barometric measurements, explored the pyramids and temples of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico - the Aztecs and Toltecs, studied the history and political state of the country. He was the first to publish the Aztec manuscript Codex Telleriano-Remensis in 1810.

Finally, on July 9, 1804, after nearly five years in America, Humboldt and Bonpland set sail for Europe and landed at Bordeaux on August 3 of the same year.

The results of their journey were impressive. Before Humboldt, only one of the points in South America - Quito - was accurately determined astronomically; the geological structure of the mainland had not been studied before. Humboldt determined the latitude and longitude of many points, studied the orography of the area, making about 700 hypsometric measurements, collected extensive information about the climate of the region and indicated its distinctive features.

Scientists have collected huge botanical and zoological collections - about 4,000 species of plants alone, including 1,800 new to science.

The connection of the Amazon and Orinoco systems has been proven; the direction of some mountain ranges has been determined and new ones have been discovered (for example, the Andes, Sierra Parima); clarified in general terms the distribution of mountains and lowlands; charted sea currents along western coasts America, called "Humboldt".

The ethnography, history, languages, and political state of the visited countries were not left without attention: a large amount of material was collected, which was subsequently analyzed by Humboldt and his collaborators.

The journey of Humboldt and Bonpland is rightly called the second - scientific - discovery of America.
Back in Europe
Humboldt in 1806. Portrait by Friedrich Georg Weitsch (German: Friedrich Georg Weitsch). Old National Gallery, Berlin
View of Chimborazo. Watercolor based on Humboldt's description. First published in Voyage aux regions équinoxiales…, vol. 1

To process and publish the results of the American trip, Humboldt stayed in Paris. The first volume of the gigantic work "Journey to the equinox regions of the New World in 1799-1804" (fr. Voyage aux regions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 par Alexander Humboldt et Aimé Bonpland / red. A. de Humboldt - Grand edition - Paris: Schoell Dufor, Mare et Gide) appeared in 1807, the thirtieth and last in 1833. The edition contained 1425 tables, partly colored, and cost at that time 2553 thalers.

Most of the work consists of descriptions of plants made mainly by Bonpland (16 volumes), astronomical, geodetic and cartographic materials (5 volumes), the other part is zoology and comparative anatomy, a description of the journey, and more.

Humboldt's collaborators were Oltmans (astronomical calculations), Bonpland and Kunt (description of plants), Cuvier, Valenciennes and Latreille (zoology), Klaproth and Vauquelin (mineralogy), von Buch (fossils).

Humboldt himself owns a description of the journey (French Relation historique, 3 volumes in 4°), a general picture of nature, climate, geological structure, life and monuments of wild countries (French Vues des Cordillères, atlas and text); treatise on geographical distribution plants (fr. Essai sur la geographie des plantes); a collection of studies on geology and comparative anatomy (2 volumes) and treatises on the political state of the Spanish colonies (fr. Essai polit sur la Nouvelle Espagne, 2 volumes with 20 maps).

In addition to these works of a more or less special nature, Humboldt published in 1808 "Pictures of Nature" (German: Ansichten der Natur) - a series of pictures of tropical nature, drawn with amazing skill. "Cosmos" surpasses in depth and variety, but is far inferior to "Pictures of Nature" in liveliness and freshness of the image.

The following year, 1805, Humboldt went to Italy to his brother, to whom he handed over materials for the study of American dialects, visited Naples to look at the eruption of Vesuvius that happened that year, and from there went to Berlin; here he lived in 1806-1807, engaged in magnetic observations, wrote "Pictures of Nature" and, it seems, was not particularly distressed by the political hardships of his homeland. The cosmopolitan sourdough was too strong in him.

In 1808, however, he had to give up his scientific studies in order to accompany Prince Wilhelm of Prussia to Paris, who went there to negotiate with Napoleon. Humboldt, who used great value in Parisian high society, had to pave the way for an agreement, which he did with success.

After that, he lived in France for almost 20 years (1809-1827). Paris at that time shone with such a constellation of scientists that no city in Europe could boast of. Cuvier, Laplace, Gay-Lussac, Arago, Biot, Brongniart and others acted here. Humboldt worked with Gay-Lussac on the chemical composition of the air, with Biot on terrestrial magnetism, and with Saint-Hilaire on the respiration of fish.

Simplicity and freedom of relations, sociability and the absence of petty envy were to his liking. Humboldt led such a working life in Paris that he left barely 4-5 hours a day for sleep. He led such an active lifestyle until his death and, most surprisingly, he always remained healthy and strong physically and mentally.

The enormous influence of Humboldt in the scientific community of Paris forced all scientists who came to the capital of France to strive for him, especially since he generously squandered his influence and money for the benefit of others. When Agassiz, due to lack of funds, had to stop his studies in Paris, Humboldt most delicately forced him to accept financial assistance; when Liebig, still unknown, an aspiring scientist, read one of his first works in Paris, Humboldt immediately got to know him and gave him active support.

While still in America, Humboldt dreamed of traveling to Asia and was now actively preparing for it, studying, among other things, the Persian language with Sylvester de Sacy. In 1811, the Russian Chancellor Count Rumyantsev invited him to join the embassy that Emperor Alexander I was sending to Kashgar and Tibet. But the events of the coming 1812 and subsequent years absorbed the attention of the Russian government, and the expedition did not take place.

In 1818, Humboldt was in Aachen at a congress, but he was busy only about an Asian trip. He spent all his fortune on American expedition and the publication of its results, so that now he could travel only at public expense; but this time the journey did not take place, and Humboldt returned to Paris.

In 1822 he traveled to Italy, visited Vesuvius and examined the changes that had taken place in it between the eruptions of 1807 and 1822.

Friedrich Wilhelm III was personally located to Humboldt, valued his company. In 1826, he invited his learned friend to move closer. Humboldt, reluctantly, moved to "foggy Berlin". From that time on, he lived mainly in Berlin, often visited the court, accompanied the king on trips around Europe, and, although he did not play an official role, tried as much as possible to counteract the reaction, whose adherents called Humboldt "the court revolutionary."

The period after settling in Berlin, from the end of 1827 to April 1828, was marked by Humboldt's active work in popularizing science. It took the form of free public lectures, held in two places - at the University of Berlin (61 lectures) and at the Singing Academy (16 lectures) with the largest of Berlin's halls available to the general public, now the Maxim Gorky Theater is located in the academy building. Lectures "On the physical world description" served as the basis for Humboldt's future popular scientific work "Cosmos". They attracted a lot of listeners - up to a thousand people gathered at each lecture. In the twenties years XIX centuries, science was just beginning to descend from its heights into the sphere of everyday life, and Humboldt's lectures were in their way an unexpected and amazing phenomenon. They mark the triumph of a new direction in the spiritual life of Europe - a direction that characterizes 19th century and consisting in the convergence of science with life. At the same time, they were the first essay of a new science - the physical world description. At the end of the lectures (1828), a specially appointed committee presented Humboldt with a medal with the image of the sun and the inscription: Illustrans lotum radiis splendentibus orbem (from Latin - "Illuminating the whole world with bright rays").

For several years, Humboldt corresponded with Count Kankrin, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, who asked the venerable scientist to express his opinion on the advisability of introducing a platinum coin into the country's money circulation. As a result, Humboldt received an official invitation "in the interests of science and the country" to visit the Ural ore deposits.

On April 12, 1829, Humboldt left Berlin with his companions Gustav Rose and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, and on May 1 they were already in St. Petersburg (the route to the Russian capital ran through Königsberg, the Curonian Spit and Dorpat, with a short visit to Dorpat University). The trip was carried out "at the expense of the Russian government":

Back in Berlin, Humboldt received a bill for 1,200 chervonets, and in St. Petersburg - 20,000 rubles. Everywhere carriages, apartments, horses were prepared in advance; Menshenin, an official of the Mining Department, who spoke German and French; in dangerous places on the Asian border, travelers were to be accompanied by a convoy ...

Initially, they followed the route: St. Petersburg - Moscow - Vladimir - Nizhny Novgorod- Kazan - Yekaterinburg - Perm. They traveled to Kazan along the Volga.

In the Middle Urals, the researchers spent several weeks, devoting time to geological surveys and inspection of deposits of iron, gold ores, native platinum, and malachite. They visited famous Ural factories, including Nevyansk and Verkhneturinsk:

Humboldt could not but pay attention to the miserable condition of the serfs and the impossible state of industry, but it was inconvenient to talk about this, and he promised Kankrin - with whom he corresponded quite frankly - not to take dirty linen out of the hut ...

During his trip through the Urals, Humboldt proposed to reduce the watering of gold mines by draining Lake Shartash near Yekaterinburg. Humboldt's authority was so great that his proposal was accepted despite the protests of local mining experts. The water level in the lake was significantly lowered, the lake almost disappeared, but the water in the mines remained at the same level.

The further way ran through Tobolsk, Barnaul, Semipalatinsk, Omsk and Miass. In the Baraba steppe, scientists have significantly replenished their zoological and botanical collections. After arriving in Miass, where celebrations were held on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Humboldt, the expedition continued through the Southern Urals with a tour of Zlatoust, Kichimsk, Orsk and Orenburg. Having visited the Iletsk rock salt deposit, the travelers arrived in Astrakhan, and then "made a short trip around the Caspian Sea." On the way back, Humboldt visited Moscow University, where a solemn meeting was arranged for him. On November 13, 1829, the expedition members returned to St. Petersburg.

Despite the transience of the trip, it was very productive: its results are reflected in the three-volume work "Central Asia" (French Asie Centrale, 1843). At the University of Derpt, Humboldt met prominent scientists of the Russian Empire: the director of the university observatory V. Ya. Struve, the mineralogist O. M. von Engelhardt, the plant taxonomist K. H. Ledebur, the naturalist I. Parrot, and their students.
"Space"

Returning from Russia, Humboldt went to Paris (1830), where he intended to process the scientific results of the expedition. In addition, the trip pursued and political goals: welcome new French dynasty. While living in Paris, Alexander often appeared at court, sending reports to Frederick William III on the political situation. He had unquestioned authority in the scientific community and won the friendship of many French scientists.

In 1832, Humboldt returned to Berlin, where he continued to work on a multi-volume scientific and philosophical work, which at first he intended to call "Essays on the physical world description" (French Essai sur la physique du monde), and later called "Cosmos". The intention to write a work intended for the general public and containing the quintessence of scientific knowledge about the world arose before his trip to America, in 1796.

Wilhelm Humboldt died in 1835, and Alexander began to publish his brother's works (three volumes appeared during 1836-1839). Court duties took up a lot of time. In 1840, the old king died, and his son Friedrich Wilhelm IV ascended the throne, who treated the scientist with the same respect as his father. But "his bizarre, strange character and reactionary politics caused much annoyance to Humboldt."

In 1845, the first volume of the work was published, which A. Humboldt in a letter to Farnhagen (1834) called "the work of his life." The book was called "Cosmos: a plan for describing the physical world" (German: Kosmos: Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung) and was prefaced with these words of the great educator:

On the slope of an active life, I convey to the German public a work, the plan of which has been hovering in my soul for almost half a century.

Humboldt's work has been translated into many languages ​​and has received high praise from the European scientific community.

AT late XIX century, the Russian publicist M. A. Engelgardt, the author of biographies of many famous scientists, wrote:

"Kosmos" represents the body of knowledge of the first half of our century and, most precious of all, the body compiled by a specialist, because Humboldt was a specialist in all fields except perhaps higher mathematics ...

... It is easy to write a compilation in which the important will be mixed with trifles, soap bubbles with strictly substantiated theories, but it is not easy to compose a code, to sum up, to give a critical examination of our knowledge. Cosmos is just that.

Engelgardt M.A. Alexander Humboldt, his life, travels and scientific activity. - St. Petersburg, 1891

On the slope of an active life ...
Photo portrait. 1857.

Vigorous activity and constant mental stress did not weaken Humboldt's physical and spiritual strength. On the contrary, in the last years of his life, approaching the age of ninety, he was as energetic as in his youth. Receiving up to 2000 letters a year, the scientist mostly responded to them immediately. He worked, received visitors, made business and friendly visits and, returning home late, continued to work until 3-4 o'clock in the morning.

Humboldt was of medium height and of rather slender build. Huge forehead, lively look of moving blue eyes and a smile, now benevolent, now sarcastic, gave his face an expression of wisdom and good-natured slyness.

A talented man delighted him; he knew how to make everyone talk and feel at home. His speech - fascinating, lively, interspersed with jokes, witticisms and sarcasm - was like fireworks. He was a real polyglot, and was fluent in English, Spanish and French.

One reason for Humboldt's immense popularity was his generosity and selfless love to science, forcing him to put forward and encourage young talents with all his might. Despite his high position, he left no fortune. Affable and accommodating in trifles, Humboldt, however, was not silent about what resented him; he stood up for people who were unjustly suspected of bad intentions, and often, in rather harsh terms, reproached the king for reactionary politics. Active life position and Humboldt's independent way of thinking contributed to the fact that he made many enemies for himself among people close to power. He kept at court only thanks to the personal location of the king. In recent years, he experienced dissatisfaction with the general state of affairs in the country, which was joined by a feeling of loneliness: Humboldt's friends and peers died one after another. For a long time neither Goethe nor Wilhelm Humboldt was alive. In 1853, L. von Buch died, with whom Humboldt had a 63-year friendship; he was followed by the best of his Parisian friends, F. Arago. In 1857 the king fell ill; and soon the last of the scientist's old friends, K. A. Farnhagen von Enze (1858), died, and Humboldt, in the halo of his glory, remained lonely, tired and sad. At the end of April 1859, he caught a cold and fell ill. The deadly disease progressed rapidly, but it did not cause severe suffering. The consciousness of the scientist was preserved until the last day: he died on May 6, 1859.

Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia)
Order of the Red Eagle, 1st class (Prussia)
Order "Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste" (Prussia, 05/31/1842)
Order of Civil Merit of the Bavarian Crown, Grand Cross (Bavaria)
Order of Maximilian "For achievements in science and art" (Bavaria, 1853)
Order of the Rose, Grand Cross (Brazil)
Copley Medal (Great Britain (London royal society), 1852)
Danebrog Order, Grand Cross (Denmark)
Order of Carlos III, Grand Cross (Spain)
Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Grand Cross (Mexico)
Order of Christ, Grand Cross (Portugal)
Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class (Russia)
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (Russia, 08/04/1856)
Order of the White Falcon, Grand Cross (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach)
Order of Civil Merit, Grand Cross (Saxony)
Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus, Grand Cross (Kingdom of Sardinia)
Order of the Legion of Honor, Grand Cross (France, 06/10/1857)

5 marks 1967 - German commemorative coin dedicated to the brothers Alexander and Wilhelm Humboldt

Humboldt's numerous works, representing an entire encyclopedia of natural science, are linked by the idea of ​​a physical world description.