Talk:Alexander von Humboldt

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Contents 1 Founder of biogeography 2 "Introduction" 3 Humboldt or von Humboldt?? 4 Misleading information

[edit] Founder of biogeography

I don't have a problem with the biogeography statement in principle, but the same would apply to a number of other disciplines as well. I think it should not go into the opening statemet, otherwise all other fields he founded would have to be mentioned as well. It would be better under a separate, new statement like summary of achievements. --Carboxen 07:26, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Introduction"

Everything in the so-called introduction, things and places named after him etc., should come at the end, after the actual biography. Any reason this section is where it is now? u p p l a n d 13:03, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

• I agree with you and moved that so-called introduction to the end of the article. Thanks, Madman 22:39, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Humboldt or von Humboldt??

Sometimes in the article Alexander is referred to as Humboldt and other times as von Humboldt. We should standardize, but I don't know the rules that apply here. Madman 01:33, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

For all I know, von Humboldt is preferable, because, strictly speaking, as in many other cases with nobility, it is equivalent to from or of Humboldt referring to the family castle (sometimes only imaginary, as it was in the case of von Linné). Taking von out of this combination we not only deny their noble status (which may well fit the egalitarian Zeitgeist of the 21st century) but also make some slight but meaningful difference (just like calling me Alexei St Petersburg instead of Alexei from/of St Petersburg). Calling him consistently by one of his personal names (Alexander) would be, probably, even better, but this will be too bold.

Nobility is largely an ancien regime institution and this cultural distance makes all the tricks less understandable for us. However if we eradicate all the clues, we undermine the very possibility to understand them at all. Alexei Kouprianov 07:12, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, but it is quite normal to leave out the von when just mentioning the person by surname. (Think of Bismarck, Hindenburg, etc.) Insisting on using the von in such cases will just seem affected. When using given name and surname together, the von should always be included, unless the person him/herself didn't use it, or one is referring to a time before the person was ennobled. u p p l a n d 10:44, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Misleading information

According to a book I’ve read, the first person to propose that the lands bordering the Atlantic were once joined (South America and Africa in particular), was actually a Dutch map-maker Abraham Orelius in 1596. The book also asserts that the second person to claim this was Sir Fancis Bacon in 1620. Perhaps the statement (“first to propose that the lands bordering the Atlantic were once joined”) is too vague and is thus incorrect. I will not remove it because I am unsure of the specifics; but if anyone else agrees, then reword or remove it. TDBSW 17:33, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Umm … I’m too impatient, I just reworded it; change it back if you like. Perhaps he was the first form his country to propose this, but I just changed it to “one of the first”. TDBSW 07:50, 1 October 2006 (UTC)