About
Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707-1788) was a major French naturalist and writer of the Enlightenment. As Intendant of the Jardin du Roi from 1739, he turned it into a leading research center. His monumental work, Histoire naturelle (36 volumes, 1749-1788), covered quadrupeds, birds, and minerals. In Les Époques de la Nature (1778), he estimated the Earth's age at about 75,000 years, contradicting biblical chronology. He also formulated Buffon's law in biogeography and the needle problem in probability. A member of the Académie française, he delivered in 1753 the Discours sur le style, where he declared: 'Style is the man himself.' A forerunner of evolutionary thought, he influenced Lamarck and Darwin.
* 1707-09-07 — † 1788-04-15
Major works
- Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière (1749-1788)natural history encyclopedia
- Les Époques de la Nature (1778)scientific essay
- Discours sur le style (1753)speech
Key milestones
- 1739Appointed intendant of the Jardin du Roi in Paris.
- 1753Elected to the Académie française and delivers the Discours sur le style.
- 1778Publishes Les Époques de la Nature, estimating the Earth's age at about 75,000 years.
Themes
Natural historyAge of the EarthBiogeographyProbabilityStyle and writing
Sources: id.loc.gov · catalogues.royalsociety.org