Text prepared, introduced and annotated by Stéphane Schmitt with the collaboration of Cédric Crémière, Paris, Honoré Champion, 2008
The complete works of Buffon are practically confused with his monumental undertaking, Natural History, whose thirty-six volumes appeared from 1749 to 1789. This work, often reprinted until the end of the nineteenth century, more since then. We therefore propose for the first time the entirety of this text in a form that corresponds to the current criteria of scientific publishing.
In the second volume, Buffon presents his audacious theory of the generation of animals, which breaks with the dominant preformationist conceptions and forges the notion of "inner mold" and "organic molecule." In a second part, he begins the Natural History of Man, of which he tries to define nature and explores the ages of life.
In the second volume, Buffon presents his audacious theory of the generation of animals, which breaks with the dominant preformationist conceptions and forges the notion of "inner mold" and "organic molecule." In a second part, he begins the Natural History of Man, of which he tries to define nature and explores the ages of life.
Stéphane Schmitt is director of research at CNRS (SPHERE, UMR 7219, Paris). His research focuses on the history of the life sciences of the eighteenth to the twentieth century, particularly on the development of anatomy and embryology in connection with the development of theories of evolution.
Cédric Crémière, heritage curator and director of the Museum of Natural History of Le Havre, is particularly interested in the history of anatomy and collections.
: : Champion
: : Serie "Age des Lumières", n°0045
: : 808 pages
: : 2008, Paris
: : ISBN - EAN 9782745317292
