132 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
T
he study of the
interrelationship between
the animate and inanimate
world, known as ecology, only
became a subject of rigorous and
methodical scientific investigation
over the last 150 years. The term
“ecology” was coined in 1866 by
the German evolutionary biologist,
Ernst Haeckel, and is derived from
the Greek words oikos, meaning
house or dwelling place, and logos,
meaning study or discourse. But
it is an earlier German polymath
named Alexander von Humboldt
who is regarded as the pioneer of
modern ecological thinking.
Through extensive expeditions
and writings, Humboldt promoted
a new approach to science. He
sought to understand nature as
a unified whole, by interrelating
all of the physical sciences and
employing the latest scientific
equipment, exhaustive observation,
and meticulous analysis of data on
an unprecedented scale.The crocodile’s teeth
Although Humboldt’s holistic
approach was new, the concept
of ecology developed from early
investigations of natural historyby ancient Greek writers, such as
Herodotus in the 5th century BCE.
In one of the first accounts of
interdependence, technically
known as mutualism, he describes
crocodiles on the Nile River in
Egypt opening their mouths to
allow birds to pick their teeth clean.
A century later, observations
by the Greek philosopher Aristotle
and his pupil Theophrastus on
species’ migration, distribution,
and behavior provided an early
version of the concept of the
ecological niche—the particular
place in nature that shapes and is
shaped by a species’ way of life.
Theophrastus studied and wrote
extensively on plants, realizing the
importance of climate and soils to
their growth and distribution. Their
ideas influenced natural philosophy
for the next 2,000 years.Humboldt’s team climbed Mexico’s
Jorullo volcano in 1803, just 44 years
after it first appeared. Humboldt linked
geology to meteorology and biology by
studying where different plants lived.IN CONTEXT
BRANCH
BIOLOGYBEFORE
5th–4th century BCE Ancient
Greek writers observe the
web of interrelationships
between plants, animals,
and their environment.AFTER
1866 Ernst Haeckel coins
the word “ecology.”1895 Eugenius Warming
publishes the first university
course book on ecology.1935 Alfred Tansley coins the
word “ecosystem.”1962 Rachel Carson warns of
the dangers of pesticides in
Silent Spring.1969 Friends of the Earth and
Greenpeace are established.1972 James Lovelock’s Gaia
hypothesis presents Earth as
a single organism.The principal impulse by
which I was directed was the
earnest endeavour to
comprehend the phenomena
of physical objects in their
general connection, and to
represent nature as one great
whole, moved and animated
by internal forces.
Alexander von Humboldt