The idea for digging a canal across Panama Isthmus was put forward by

Alexander von Humboldt, the German naturalist and explorer, proposed the idea of a canal across the Panama Isthmus in the early 19th century during his Latin American expedition (1799-1804). The canal was eventually completed in 1914. Ptolemy and Strabo were ancient geographers; Ratzel was a 19th century German geographer but not associated with this idea.