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Boston University, October 8 -
9, 1999
A Symposium commemorating the 200th
Anniversary of the beginning of Alexander von Humboldt's five year pioneering expedition
in the American tropics

Organized under the schirmherrschaft (auspices)
of His excellency Jürgen Chrobog, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the
United States of America, and Dr. Frank H. T. Rhodes, President of the American
Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 8th
6:00 |
Reception |
8:00 |
Keynote address
Following the footsteps of Alexander von HumboldtLoren McIntyre, South American Explorers Club, Ithaca, NY, USA |
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9th
The historical background of
Humboldt's legacy
8:30 |
Humboldt's
intellectual roots and training in the natural sciences and natural philosophy of his time
Dr. Michael
Dettelbach, Smith College, Northhampton, MA, USA
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Humboldt's
scientific discoveries in Venezuela
Dr. Gustavo Romero, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
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Humboldt's visit to
Washington and Philadelphia in 1804,
his friendship with Jefferson, and his fascination with the United States
Dr. Ingo Schwarz, A.v.H. Research Center,
Berlin, GERMANY
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10:00 |
Coffe break |
Humboldt's legacy:
his holistic world view and modern ecological research
10:30 |
Building a legacy: Humboldt and
the historical tradition in Germany
A. Denise Phillips, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
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Humboldt's holistic world view
and modern inter- and transdisciplinary ecological research
Dr. Otto Fraenzle, Center for Ecology, Kiel,
GERMANY
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12:00 |
Buffet lunch |
Scientific research today
and the ideas of Humboldt
1:30 |
New perspectives in neotropical
phytogeography based on the ideas of Humboldt
Dr. Otto Huber, Universidad Simon Bolivar,
Caracas, VENEZUELA
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Modern marine science and the
ideas of Humboldt
Dr. Gerhard Kortum, Institute for Marine
Sciences, Kiel, GERMANY
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Thinking globally: Humboldt's
inspiration for the earth sciences
Dr. Harold
W. Borns, Quaternary Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
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3:00 |
Coffee break |
Humboldt's views on nature
and man:
the progress and future of civilization
3:30 |
Man in the Cosmos: wilderness,
civilization, and the human prospects
Evan
Eisenberg, New York, NY, USA
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"Hero of knowledge, be our
tribute thine!" - Alexander von Humboldt in Victorian America
Dr. Laura
Dassow Walls, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA
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Humboldt's encounter with Andean
culture: Inca ruins, native languages and local memories in Humboldt's account of Ecuador
Dr. Carlos Espinosa, Universidad San Francisco
de Quito, Ecuador
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The scientist as Weltbürger
Dr. Ottmar Ette, University of Potsdam,
Berlin-Potsdam, GERMANY
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5:30 |
Cocktail break Readings from Humboldt's writings: man's emotional bond with nature |
7:00 |
Banquet dinner |
8:15 |
Concluding address Tropical nature and the new millenium
Dr. Adrian Forsyth, W. Alton Jones Foundation
and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA |
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10th
10:00 |
Exhibit of portraits of Alexander von Humboldt
from the archives of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Also books
and other items from or about Humboldt |
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Humboldt Bicentennial Botany and Ornithology
Expedition to the Upper Orinoco River in Venezuela
October 14 - 31, 1999
This bicentennial expedition-style seminar involves an extended trip up the Orinoco River
to La Esmeralda, the furthest point reached by Alexander von Humboldt during his 5-year
pioneering expedition deep into the Amazon basin 200 years ago. Participants will travel
in dugout canoes approximately 330 km on the Orinoco River, stopping regularly for field
trips. Excursions will be made into the Cunucunuma River (considered the most beautiful
tributary of the Orinoco); up Cerro Duida (a tepui or table top mountain), from which one
has a panoramic view of the Amazon basin; and into the Casiquiare River, the river which
connects the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, a fact that was first discovered by Humboldt. The
program provides a broad overview of the botany, ornithology, biogeography, and natural
history of the Orinoco region. The program offers the opportunity to explore the flora of
the different plant communities and the diversity of vegetation along the Orinoco River.
It will review the differences between whitewater, blackwater and clearwater rivers and
the ecological functioning of the forests that produce these kinds of waters. Different
savanna types will be visited, i.e., on white soil sands (Amazonian type savannas), normal
soil sands (llanos type savannas), inundated savannas, and floating savannas. Seasonally
inundated forests will also be visited. Systematic botany discussions will focus on common
species and characters that can be easily used to identify families and genera, based on
such books as Alwyn Gentry's superb field guide to woody and herbaceous species. The
program will also review the flora and fauna of the Guayana lowlands and highlands,
focusing on the geology of the Guiana shield, plant endemicity and the adaptations of
plant species to poor and acid soils. A visit will also be made to a 150 year-old Hevea
(rubber) plantation. There will be opportunities to understand indigenous food resources
by visiting "conucos" (cultivated fields) that are cut out of the rainforest,
planted for a few years, and then abandonned to revert back to forest. Those who are
interested in ornithology, will be able to devote their time to observations in the wide
variety of habitats that will be visited throughout the trip.
Co-sponsors of the Symposium:
Humboldt Field Research Institute, Steuben, ME, USA
Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Boston University, USA
German Consulate, Boston, MA, USA
The Symposium registration fee is $60 ( $35 for
students), including meals
For information on
the symposium and expedition, please contact
Humboldt Field Research Institute
Dyer Bay Road, P.O. Box 9, Steuben, ME
04680-0009
207-546-2821, Fax 546-3042
humboldt@nemaine.com
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