Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859): Connecting geodiversity, biodiversity and society

Norder, Sietze J.

doi:10.1111/jbi.13500

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As such, investigating historical differences in island occupancy would be an interesting avenue of future research. Finally, along with population size several other estimates of human inhabitation can be measured, such as dwellings, docks and farms [79,80], which can potentially yield interesting information on how humans occupy and use islands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The island biogeography of human population size

Mologni

Burns

2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For decades, biogeographers have sought a better understanding of how organisms are distributed among islands. However, the island biogeography of humans remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate how human population size varies among 486 islands at two spatial scales. At a global scale, we tested whether population size increases with island area and declines with island elevation and nearest mainland, as is common in non-human species, or whether humans escape such biogeographic constraints. At a regional scale, we tested whether population sizes vary among islands within archipelagos according to the positioning of different cultural source pools. Results illustrate that on a global scale, human populations increased in size with island area, similar to non-human species, yet they did not decline in size with elevation and distance to nearest mainland. At a regional scale, human population size often varied among islands within archipelagos relative to the location of different cultural source pools. Despite broad-scale similarities in the geographical distribution of human and non-human species among islands, results from this study indicate that the island biogeography of humans may also be influenced by archipelago-specific social, political and historical circumstances.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The island biogeography of human population size

Mologni

Burns

2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even today, there are still people who, directly or indirectly influenced by the distorted English "translation" of Humboldt's criticism of slavery in his Political Essay on the Island of Cuba, have stubbornly portrayed him as a defender of slavery in their writings. Therefore, it is necessary to clear his name as "a champion of the oppressed" [13] at the beginning part of this paper first to rectify the unfair misunderstanding of his attitude against slavery.…”

Section: Humboldt's Attitude Against Slaverymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Abolitionist Views of Alexander Von Humboldt and the Solutions He Envisioned to End Slavery of the New Born United States of America

2024

history

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present research systematically reviews academic works, diaries and letters of Humboldt himself and academic works and journal articles on him, and comes to conclusions as follows: 1) Though mistaken as "champion of slavery" throughout his life, Humboldt was an indeed an uncompromising abolitionist who never stopped condemning slavery. 2) The education he received in his early youth and the miserable life he witnessed during his Latin America exploration forged his abolitionist views. 3) Humboldt envisioned a possible solution to end slavery in the new born United States of America but failed to get it accepted by the then US government.

show abstract

“…Torrid zone theory (Blumenbach, 1775(Blumenbach, /1795Smith, 1787Smith, /1810 did not do a good job regarding biogeographical research on the African continent. The third and last key figure after Pallas and perhaps the most influential figure ever to have affected Gloger theory was German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769Humboldt ( -1859, who invented some of the first tools for measuring temperatures and latitudes (Norder, 2019;Pausas & Bond, 2018;Rupke, 2021;Wulf, 2016), and whose thoughts are abundantly cited by Gloger (Gloger, 1833, pp. 13-15, pp.…”

Section: Qu'on Admette Même L'influence D'un Climat éTranger à L'anim...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Black Skin Research: Gloger Rule/Theory Dead or Alive?

Cibangu¹

2022

IJB

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Unlike various topics of human life that recurringly naggingly preoccupy scholars, black skin tends to be considered by prestigious biology and science publication outlets as a closed and disposed-of topic. The present paper is not one of experiment, but rather the paper is a long-due comprehensive review of black skin scholarship, using a dominant theory of this scholarship, and suggesting newer insights for future research. Known since Antiquity, black skin -- euphemistically called dark sin -- has become the topic of repeated public debate in recent decades. Part of the reason is that although race is believed to be scientifically nonexistent skin color is not. Meanwhile, among the theories explaining black skin, Gloger rule/theory stands out to be the most popular. While multitudes of reviews have examined Gloger theory, few have confronted the theory with the arguments of Gloger himself. This might be because Gloger writings remain untranslated and unknown to English readership. Although Gloger was an ornithologist by profession, his arguments had immense ramifications far beyond the study of birds. The present paper focused on the key arguments of Gloger to present a critical assessment of black skin materials. To this effect, a comprehensive, historical background of Gloger theory was used along with recent research to bring in sharper relief Gloger teachings about skin color. In light of Gloger critiques, it was determined that Gloger theory is no less than inadequate and so is the description of black skin as a product of natural selection. Taken-for-granted theories and resultant arguments of black skin were reversed and paths for future skin color work were proposed. Gloger arguments highlight variability among species and across latitudes.

show abstract

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859): Connecting geodiversity, biodiversity and society

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

The island biogeography of human population size

The island biogeography of human population size

The Abolitionist Views of Alexander Von Humboldt and the Solutions He Envisioned to End Slavery of the New Born United States of America

A Review of Black Skin Research: Gloger Rule/Theory Dead or Alive?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About