Alexander von Humboldt

We had come down the California coast through Humboldt County and among the intellectual and social tendrils of Humboldt University and we enjoyed that.

But here suddenly in Guanajuato, in a plaza mainly celebrating the fact that President Benito Juarez lived there and this was the capital of Mexico 1858-63 before captured by the invading French, was an arcade named for Humboldt.

To the research: Humboldt lived in Mexico for a year.

But whereas I had in the back of my head that Humboldt was an explorer, I learn that he is much more, a largely forgotten pillar of natural science.

I'm pleased to discover something amazing I did not know. There is nothing more interesting in life. New knowledge (new to the individual mind) is important. Otherwise stuck in doctrine, dogma, no-future... where people sink into the R-Complex pit of seeking certainty, falsely closing systems of belief to eliminate natural uncertainty, marching up and down and hating and beyond.

We live in a world where at places like beautiful Pinterest there is too often a careless disregard for, or ignorance of the importance of, respect for intellectual property. The amazing trail of idea development and imagination provocation is worth following.

Here's a bunch of provocations from Rutherford.

from http://www.todayinsci.com/R/Rutherford_Ernest/RutherfordErnest-Quotations.htm

There is no entirely original thought, but it's good to be out in the world to see things and process them in some depth so the brain kicks into new space, not least the space of discovering your brain had a bit of space for something new.

People are fond of quoting Picasso's alleged words "good artists copy, great artists steal" but there is a huge risk there of encouraging laziness. There's more to Picasso than his facetious remark of course.

Back to the immediate point: I'm please to discover the amazing life and significance of Humboldt and to have walked down el Pasaje del los Arcos Baron Alexandro von Humboldt.

It's been Yelped, it must be real.
But when was Humboldt here?
Surely someone will comment below.... please.