Humboldt - the philosopher who started the ecology movement

The idea that everything in nature is interconnected comes largely from the German philosopher, geographer, naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. After a scientific expedition to the Americas at the turn of the 19th century, Humboldt came to realise that nature existed in interconnected ecological zones, and that humans were not nature’s overloads, but part of nature itself, something which profoundly challenged religious beliefs about man’s place in the world. His observations were published in five volumes called Kosmos, a scientific work which would have a significant influence on evolutionary thinkers like Charles Darwin, and would ultimately kick off the ecology movement.

Guest: Dalia Nassar, Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney, author of Romantic Empiricism – nature, art and ecology from Herder to Humboldt, published by Oxford University Press, and host, The Wednesday Society podcast

Producer: Catherine Zengerer