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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XII, 2020

bears, was himself a lover of such kinds of exchanges and combinations of
ideas. This is a place of exchanges and combinations of Siamese and European
architecture and construction techniques, an integration of old forms and

new needs of the time, as a part of the reform program to modernize Siam
and to avoid the expanding colonization of Western great powers, persuading
them to recognize Siam as a civilized nation, as an equal friend, instead of being
a target for colonization.

Alexander von Humboldt in his days

Coming to our topic of Alexander von Humboldt and his legacy today,
this is the story of a man who was a network of knowledge in his day, and who
still has an impact on collaboration between scientists today. He was born 250
years ago, in 1769, and passed away in 1859, at almost 90 years old. He belongs
to a generation of European scholars living in the era of the Enlightenment,
discoveries and industrial revolutions surrounded by social turbulence and
disruption. Colonialism, slavery, the American and French Revolutions, wars
of liberation and wars of restoration mixed up together in this age.

Humboldt was an extensive traveler and was well recognized as a hero
of science in his life-time and even after his death. Many species and places are
named after him, but he has no single theory or equation bearing his name.
However, after 250 years, some say that he has been forgotten! Why is that?
What really is his contribution to the world of science? What does Alexander von
Humboldt mean for the scholars of today?

Alexander von Humboldt was born in the reign of Frederick the Great
of Prussia, the enlightened despot of Europe. As a child he grew up with his
elder brother Wilhelm von Humboldt under classical education in a noble family
close to royal circles. Their father was a Chamberlain of the Crown Prince and
their mother came from a wealthy noble family. The Humboldt brothers were
brought up under the ideas of the Enlightenment, with a love of truth, liberty and
knowledge. Alexander found a greater interest in the wide world of nature than
in studying in the classroom. Due to Alexander’s habit of collecting and labeling
plants, shells, and insects, he was called “the little apothecary”. This might be a

sign of his later becoming a brilliant observer and describer of things.

56 Alexander von Humboldt Legacy Today

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