Alexander von Humboldt und seine geognostischen Studien in Göttingen

Article in German, Abstracts in English and German.Even before he went to Freiberg (Saxony) to study with Abraham Gottlob Werner, Alexander von Humboldt had done research into geognosy and the science of salt making. The results were published in the book “Mineralogische Beobachtungen über einige Basalte am Rhein”, and in „Versuch über einige physikalische und chemische Grundsätze der Salzwerkskunde“ (1792). Humboldt’s first teachers in geognosy, J. F. Blumenbach and H. F. Link had an important impact on these early studies. Until 1795, 31% of Humboldt’s scientific work consisted of research into these fields. This paper argues that, due to Humboldt’s comprehensive knowledge of the literature on geognosy, the references to this field in Steven Jan van Geuns’s journal of a common trip along the river Rhine (1789) were directly influenced by Humboldt. Thus van Geuns’s diary contains Humboldt’s first statements on volcanism, the geognosy of basalts, and references to salt making.