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Science 4 October 2002:
Vol. 298. no. 5591, pp. 63 - 64
DOI: 10.1126/science.1071988
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Essays on Science and Society

Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

PORTRAITS OF SCIENCE:
Climb Chimborazo and See the World

Peter J. Bowler*

At the beginning of the 19th century, Alexander von Humboldt explored South America. In his essay, Bowler recounts how this versatile scientist pioneered a holistic approach to the environmental sciences and influenced many future developments. Humboldt's emphasis on how human values shape our perception of nature was, however, at odds with the increasingly materialistic trend of 19th-century science.

P. J. Bowler is in the History of Science Program, School of Anthropological Studies, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK. E-mail: p.bowler{at}qub.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)