(Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich) Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) German naturalist. Humboldt's interests included geophysics, geology and botany, and he is sometimes called the founder of ecology. He is shown here at the time of his expedition in South America (1800-1804) when, with the French botanist Aime Bonplond (1773-1858), he explored the Orinoco and Amazon regions and collected 60,000 plant specimens. Engraving (Edinburgh, c1830).