Abstract

On Natural History Museums and Their Purpose. A Lecture Given by Leopold von Buch in April 1838. A manuscript of a lecture by the Prussian geologist Leopold von Buch given at the Berlin Society of the Friends of the Humanity was discovered at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. The text is a raw version of a passionate plea for the formation of natural history collections as science places, with a partly biting humor. Based on until now unknown anecdotes about naturalists like Kaspar Maria Graf Sternberg and Friedrich Wilhelm Hoeninghaus Leopold von Buch argues with von Sternberg for the scientific value of natural history collections. The repeating references to the works of Goethe and an extensive addendum of various Dante translations into German are striking. The lecture manuscript complements our knowledge about the thinking of this important geologist, and provides new insights into the science policy of his time