ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 35 1 



his acquirements, his acquaintance with the scientific men of every 

 country, his wealth, his relation to the king, his leisure, than any other 

 living man to write the book he proposed. He had the promise of 

 assistance from the representatives of all the sciences, and through 

 private correspondence and their publications could obtain from them 

 the latest and most accurate information on the topics he wished to 

 discuss. It is not strange that one of the striking features of " Cosmos " 

 should be its notes, which contain extracts in many cases from private 

 letters and from publications in journals rarely seen, by men whose 

 names Humboldt seems to take pleasure in mentioning, and to whom he 

 never fails to give full credit. 



Yet, modest as he is in reference to his own acquirements, he may 

 justly be regarded the founder of the sciences of meteorology, terrestrial 

 magnetism and the physics of the sea. To him more than to any man of 

 his time is due the interest in the study of the currents of the air. It 

 was at his suggestion and after his plans that the Eussian government 

 established, from one end of its dominions to the other, stations for 

 the observation and record of magnetic phenomena. It was through his 

 influence that England did the same in her territories, and that other 

 countries have to a certain extent followed these examples. Perhaps it 

 may be added that he is the founder of the science of geodesy. At any 

 rate he was the first to give a full and complete picture of the physical 

 features of the earth and to call attention to the effect of these features 

 and of the temperature of a country upon its inhabitants. The tracing 

 of isothermal lines is due to him. In fact, during his life few new steps 

 were taken or changes made in scientific study without suggestions from 

 him or consultations with him. One of his characteristics was his fond- 

 ness for young men, and the pleasure he took in aiding them. If he was 

 a little vain, apparently somewhat self conscious, it was by no means 

 unnatural. The friend of kings, a social lion, a successful diplomat, a 

 classical scholar of nearly the first rank, well versed in history, ancient, 

 medieval and modern, at home in modern languages, a master of the 

 best literature of the century, through his brother William, well- 

 acquainted with oriental literature and with the conclusions of the com- 

 parative study of language, the pride of the German people, recognized 

 on all sides as worthy of the highest honor a man can receive from any 

 source whatever, it would be contrary to nature not to be influenced to 

 some extent by the flattery which came from every side. Without an 

 exception the scholars of Europe recognized his greatness and his emi- 

 nent fitness for the work he proposed to undertake. The work had been 

 on his mind for at least twenty years. For it he had gathered material, 

 had pursued special studies, made special visits, cultivated the friend- 

 ship of eminent men, by constant thought formed the plan which he 

 finally carried out, of presenting in clear readable form an account of all 

 that had been discovered and accepted as worthy of belief in the scien- 



