Text prepared, introduced and annotated by Stéphane Schmitt with the collaboration of Cédric Crémière,
Buffon and Daubenton begin the zoological part of their project in the fourth volume of the Natural, General and Special History, and, as they have announced from the outset, they begin by treating domestic quadrupeds, A plan which will be preserved until the end of this series : first the "history" of the animal by Buffon, then the anatomical description by Daubenton and, finally, by the same presentation of the samples of the " Animal kept in the Cabinet of the King.
Engraved plates complete this portrait. This volume includes the first three species (the horse, the donkey and the ox), which give Buffon the opportunity to display all his talent as a writer and to pursue his philosophical and scientific reflection. Examines the hypothesis of a common origin of species, and immediately rejects it.
These three articles are preceded by general texts by Buffon and Daubenton, in particular a "Discourse on the Nature of Animals," in which Buffon revisits at length the singularity of man and takes a critical look at the faculties attributed to beasts.
Engraved plates complete this portrait. This volume includes the first three species (the horse, the donkey and the ox), which give Buffon the opportunity to display all his talent as a writer and to pursue his philosophical and scientific reflection. Examines the hypothesis of a common origin of species, and immediately rejects it.
These three articles are preceded by general texts by Buffon and Daubenton, in particular a "Discourse on the Nature of Animals," in which Buffon revisits at length the singularity of man and takes a critical look at the faculties attributed to beasts.
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
: : Collection "Age des Lumières", n° 0052
: : 864 pages
: : Avril 2010, Paris
: : ISBN : 9782745319289
