Alexander von Humboldt's Naturgemalde, also known as the Chimborazo Map, his depiction of the volcano in cross section, with detailed information about plant geography at different elevations. The illustration was published in The Geography of Plants, 1807, in a large format. Humboldt (1769 -1859) was a Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer, and influential proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. His work laid the foundation for the field of biogeography and for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.