Editing Alexander von Humboldt (section)

==Travels and work in Europe==
Humboldt graduated from the Freiberg School of Mines in 1792 and was appointed to a [[Principality of Bayreuth#Younger line|Prussian government]] position in the Department of Mines as an inspector in [[Bayreuth]] and the [[Fichtel Mountains]]. Humboldt was excellent at his job, with production of gold ore in his first year outstripping the previous eight years.{{sfn|de Terra|1955|p=53}} During his period as a mine inspector, Humboldt demonstrated his deep concern for the men laboring in the mines. He opened a free school for miners, paid for out of his own pocket, which became an unchartered government training school for labor. He also sought to establish an emergency relief fund for miners, aiding them following accidents.{{sfn|de Terra|1955|pp=54–55}}

Humboldt's researches into the vegetation of the mines of [[Freiberg]] led to the publication in Latin (1793) of his ''Florae Fribergensis, accedunt Aphorismi ex Doctrina, Physiologiae Chemicae Plantarum'', which was a compendium of his botanical researches.{{sfn|Nicolson|Wilson|1995|p=lxvii}} That publication brought him to the attention of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], who had met Humboldt at the family home when Alexander was a boy, but Goethe was now interested in meeting the young scientist to discuss metamorphism of plants.{{sfn|de Terra|1955|pp=18, 57}} An introduction was arranged by Humboldt's brother, who lived in the university town of Jena, not far from Goethe. Goethe had developed his own extensive theories on comparative anatomy. Working before Darwin, he believed that animals had an internal force, an ''urform'', that gave them a basic shape and then they were further adapted to their environment by an external force. Humboldt urged him to publish his theories. Together, the two discussed and expanded these ideas. Goethe and Humboldt soon became close friends.

Humboldt often returned to Jena in the years that followed. Goethe remarked about Humboldt to friends that he had never met anyone so versatile. Humboldt's drive served as an inspiration for Goethe. In 1797, Humboldt returned to Jena for three months. During this time, Goethe moved from his residence in Weimar to reside in Jena. Together, Humboldt and Goethe attended university lectures on anatomy and conducted their own experiments. One experiment involved hooking up a frog leg to various metals. They found no effect until the moisture of Humboldt's breath triggered a reaction that caused the frog leg to leap off the table. Humboldt described this as one of his favorite experiments because it was as if he were "breathing life into" the leg.{{sfn|Wulf|2015|p={{page needed|date=May 2021}}}}

During this visit, a thunderstorm killed a farmer and his wife. Humboldt obtained their corpses and analyzed them in the anatomy tower of the university.{{sfn|Wulf|2015}}

[[File:Weimarer Klassik.jpg|thumb|Schiller, Wilhelm, and Alexander von Humboldt with Goethe in [[Jena]]]]
In 1794, Humboldt was admitted to the famous group of intellectuals and cultural leaders of [[Weimar Classicism]]. Goethe and [[Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]] were the key figures at the time. Humboldt contributed (7 June 1795) to Schiller's new periodical, ''Die Horen'', a philosophical [[allegory]] entitled {{lang|de|Die Lebenskraft, oder der rhodische Genius}} ''(The Life Force, or the Rhodian Genius).''<ref name="EB1911"/> In this short piece, the only literary story Humboldt ever authored, he tried to summarize the often contradictory results of the thousands of Galvanic experiments he had undertaken.{{sfn|Daum|2019}}

In 1792 and 1797, Humboldt was in [[Vienna]]; in 1795 he made a geological and botanical tour through Switzerland and Italy. Although this service to the state was regarded by him as only an apprenticeship to the service of science, he fulfilled its duties with such conspicuous ability that not only did he rise rapidly to the highest post in his department, but he was also entrusted with several important diplomatic missions.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Neither brother attended the funeral of their mother on 19 November 1796.{{sfn|Wulf|2015|p=39}} Humboldt had not hidden his aversion to his mother, with one correspondent writing of him after her death, "her death... must be particularly welcomed by you".<ref>Carl Freiesleben quoted in {{harvnb|Wulf|2015|p=39}}.</ref> After severing his official connections, he awaited an opportunity to fulfill his long-cherished dream of travel.

Humboldt was able to spend more time on writing up his research. He had used his own body for experimentation on muscular irritability, recently discovered by [[Luigi Galvani]] and published his results, {{lang|de|Versuche über die gereizte Muskel- und Nervenfaser}} (Berlin, 1797) (''Experiments on Stimulated Muscle and Nerve Fibres''), enriched in the French translation with notes by Blumenbach.