Georges Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). 1858 illustration of the French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist and encyclopedic author Georges-L
Georges Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). 1858 illustration of the French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist and encyclopedic author Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon epitomizes the revolutionary changes that the Enlightenment brought to the study of nature. 100 years before Darwin, Buffon published his 'Histoire Naturelle' (Natural History), a 44 volume encyclopedia describing everything known about the natural world. He wrestled with the similarities of humans and apes and even talked about a common ancestry of Man and apes, but ultimately rejected the possibility of a common descent. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. He brought the idea of evolution into the realm of science and developed a concept of the 'unity of type', a precursor of comparative anatomy. More than anyone else, he was responsible for the acceptance of a long-time scale for the history of the earth.
Size: 2672px × 3614px
Photo credit: © COLLECTION ABECASIS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1700s, 1800s, 1858, 18th, 19th, adult, anatomy, apes, artwork, biological, biology, black, black--white, buffon, camera, caucasian, century, comparative, comte, de, enlightenment, europe, european, evolution, french, georges, georges-louis, histoire, historical, history, human, illustration, leclerc, male, man, mathematical, mathematician, mathematics, maths, monochrome, natural, naturalist, nature, naturelle, people, person, pioneer, pioneering, polymath, portrait, science, scientist, surname, type, unity, white
