Special Report
Alexander von Humboldt
Between the 1820s and 1850s Alexander von Humboldt was one of the most widely admired public figures in the world. In the U.S., the name of this international renowned scholar has vanished from the national memory, his ideas have not.
Highlights
Who Was Alexander von Humboldt?
Smithsonian curator Eleanor Jones Harvey explains why this revolutionary 19th-century thought leader is due for a reconsideration
This Mastodon Is a Centerpiece of an Art Exhibition. Why?
Meet the hugely influential Alexander von Humboldt, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and presidents
The Pioneering Maps of Alexander von Humboldt
Beautiful and insightful, the illustrations of the German naturalist helped shape a new understanding of the world
The Story of Charles Willson Peale’s Massive Mastodon
When a European intellectual snubbed the U.S., the well-known artist excavated the giant fossil as evidence of the new Republic’s strength and power
Smithsonian Magazine
Meet Elmer and Lima, a Same-Sex Penguin Couple Fostering a Chick at a Syracuse Zoo
The two male birds are ‘exemplary’ parents, says the zoo’s director
Why Germany’s Newly Opened Humboldt Forum Is So Controversial
Critics cite the Berlin museum’s ties to the country’s colonialist past
