Science

In 1799 a voyage of unprecedented importance set sail from Spain. This voyage carried the travel enthused scientist Alexander von Humboldt. According to Humboldt's early biographer, F.A. Schwarzenberg, Humboldt had five curiosities he dedicated the voyage to:

1. The knowledge of the Earth and its inhabitants
2. The discovery of higher laws of nature, which governs the universe, men, animals, plants, and minerals
3. The discovery of new forms of life
4. The discovery of territories hitherto but imperfectly known, and their various productions
5. The acquaintance with new species of the human race--their manners, their language and the historical traces of their culture

Schwarzenberg accuratelty subtitled Humbodlt's biography What May be Accomplished in a Lifetime. The list of Humboldt's accomplishments goes on and on. And yet, not many of us are familiar with this accomplished explorer and scientist. We are more familiar with the savage conquistadors and explorers that exploited the land and its inhabitants rather than celebrating and learning about them.

32 years later, the HMS Beagle began its famous voyage carrying a man who would later go down as the "Father of Evolution." Although, most of today's population has no familiarity with Humboldt, Charles Dickens was certainly inspired by him and his expedition. In a prophetic profound letter Humbodlt responded to Darwin, "You told me in your kind letter that, when you were young, the manner in which I studied and depicted nature in the torrid zones contributed toward exciting in you the ardour and desire to travel in distant lands. Considering the importance of your work, sir, this may be the greatest success that my humble work could bring." How truly profound! And how many individuals have been inspired since from Darwin who was inspired by Humboldt!?

Darwin didn't get everything right. Our knowledge of the world is evolving exponentially. So much of that knowledge is based of his work and the work of those he inspired and the other scientists that were arguing the case of evolution along side him. Who would have inspired Darwin if not Humboldt? Who inspired Humboldt? Who and what is inspiring us today?

*If you are viewing this page on an Apple device you may not be seeing the two YouTube videos above. IF you are interested they are fragments of speeches made by Neil deGrasse Tyson about how we have stopped dreaming.