A biography of a premier French scientist of the Enlightenment and the director of France's Royal Botanical Garden, using Buffon's enormous literary production as the major source of insight into his and his age's beliefs about the natural world. Includes bandw illustrations from his Natural History. First published in 1989 as Buffon, un philosophe au Jardin du Roi, by Librarie Artheme Fayard. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Georges-Louis Leclerc, le comte de Buffon's The Epochs of Nature, originally published as Les Époques de la Nature in 1778, is one of the first great popular science books, a work of style and insight that was devoured by Catherine the Great of Russia and influenced Humboldt, Darwin, Lyell, Vernadsky, and many other renowned scientists. It is the first geological history of the world, stretching from the Earth’s origins to its foreseen end, and though Buffon was limited by the scientific knowledge of his era—the substance of the Earth was not, as he asserts, dragged out of the sun by a giant comet, nor is the sun’s heat generated by tidal forces—many of his deductions appear today as startling insights. And yet, The Epochs of Nature has never before been available in its entirety in English—until now. In seven epochs, Buffon reveals the main features of an evolving Earth, from its hard rock substrate to the sedimentary layers on top, from the minerals and fossils found within these layers to volcanoes, earthquakes, and rises and falls in sea level—and he even touches on age-old mysteries like why the sun shines. In one of many moments of striking scientific prescience, Buffon details evidence for species extinction a generation before Cuvier’s more famous assertion of the phenomenon. His seventh and final epoch does nothing less than offer the first geological glimpse of the idea that humans are altering the very foundations of the Earth—an idea of remarkable resonance as we debate the designation of another epoch: the Anthropocene. Also featuring Buffon’s extensive “Notes Justificatives,” in which he offers further evidence to support his assertions (and discusses vanished monstrous North American beasts—what we know as mastodons—as well as the potential existence of human giants), plus an enlightening introduction by editor and translator Jan Zalasiewicz and historians of science Sverker Sörlin, Libby Robin, and Jacques Grinevald, this extraordinary new translation revives Buffon’s quite literally groundbreaking work for a new age.

Before Audubon, there was Buffon’s Histoire naturelle, g�n�rale et particuli�re, originally published in thirty-six volumes between 1749 and 1778. All the World’s Birds comprises selections from the original, which explored all flora and fauna, and features the beautiful full color illustrations by Fran�ois-Nicolas Martinet. Now this seminal work appears in a handsome, slipcased edition which marks the first publication of Buffon’s writings in one volume with Martinet’s beautiful yet scientifically precise engravings, originally published separately. These wondrous eighteenth century depictions of birds are among the earliest scientific attempts to depict birds in all their detail, and these plates are a milestone in the development of ornithological art. This monumental volume is perfect for any bird lover.

Reproduction of the original: Buffon’s Natural History by Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

See pp. 62-74 for Linnaeus. The plate facing p. 62 is a photo of Laplantes engraving of Linnaeus' portrait, facing left (Tullberg 104e).