56 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



We cannot accompany Humboldt in his 

 description of the history of astronomy, from 

 the time of Galileo to Kepler, and the mathe- 

 matical epoch, from the time of Newton to 

 Leibnitz, because he was here less individually 

 active, and only represents the results of his 

 predecessors, in the exact manner, order, and 

 place. He was, however, intimately connected 

 with all discoveries of his contemporaries ; for 

 in every scientific conquest he was either an 

 individual pioneer, or else he assisted and 

 encouraged the attempts of others. Hence 

 his valuable co-operation in furtherance of 

 geography and astronomy, in cosmical science 

 in general, is conspicuously manifested in the 

 important departments of heat, light, mag- 

 netism, and all the more active and important 

 forces of the universe, whose more intimate 

 recognition is the intellectual triumph of 

 our days. 



To those who have profoundly studied the 

 history of science, and are therefore familiar 

 with the general progress of human events, and 

 the particular achievements of Alexander von 

 Humboldt in all its branches, I ought to offer 

 some apology for many of the foregoing general 

 accounts of Humboldt's position as a man of 

 science in the world of knowledge, before I 



