Buffon’s thirty-six-volume Natural History represents the first comprehensive and systematic exploration of the natural world. Though Buffon based his conjectures on physical evidence, he was frequently proven wrong by fellow scientists. Despite the work’s flaws, Buffon inspired immense respect because of the nature of the undertaking, his systematic approach to his subjects, and the high quality of his prose style.
Georges-Louis Leclerc, who became the comte de Buffon in 1773, was made superintendent of the Jardin du Roi
Buffon, whose intellectual hero was Sir Isaac Newton, hoped that he would be able to complete the work begun by the British scientists. If he could do that, he thought, he would be seen as Newton’s equal. Using an inductive scientific method and relying on materials in the King’s Gardens and those collected by others, Buffon wrote a paper putting forward a “theory of the Earth” in 1744. Here, he responded to the efforts of at least four late seventeenth century earth scientists who variously supported sacred theories of Earth’s origin.
The title page of the first volume of the comte de Buffon’s Natural History, 1749.
Buffon aroused the ire of the Catholic Church
During a period of thirty-five years, Buffon continued to advance various theories of the natural world. He discussed the effect of different climates on animals and reproduction, naturally occurring electricity in the core of the Earth, the roles of the seas in shaping the land, and human and animal migration. He believed in a molecular theory of biology, laid the foundations for anthropology, and demonstrated a rudimentary grasp of evolution
More important than any single theory put forward by Buffon was the conception and scope of his overall project. Envisioned as a fifty-volume set (the work was still incomplete at the time of his death), Natural History approached the entirety of the natural world as a rational,
As part of his post as superintendent, Buffon also managed the Cabinet du Roi,
Another theorist, Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, tested Buffon’s theories of the origin and characteristics of primordial humans in his Traité des sensations (1754; Condillac’s Treatise on the Sensations,
Finally, and notably, Thomas Jefferson, while American ambassador to Paris, questioned Buffon’s theories in ways that explicitly addressed his methods, his conclusions, and his ability to maintain a logical argument. Jefferson owned a copy of the Natural History in its original French. First, in his Notes on the State of Virginia
Another idea of Buffon’s that plagued Jefferson was contained in the former’s description of the peoples of the Americas. Knowing that Buffon had never traveled to America, namely North America, Jefferson took issue with Buffon’s characterization of American Indians in a letter written in June, 1785. He told his correspondent, François-Jean de Chastellux, that while Buffon might be right about South American indigenous peoples, he was not right about those of North America.
On January 26, 1785, Jefferson wrote to Archibald Stuart that he had met Buffon. Jefferson then asked Stuart to arrange to send Buffon the carcass of a North American elk for his studies. The carcass of the elk, along with that of a deer, a moose, and a caribou elk, were delivered to Buffon in October, 1787, as Jefferson had planned. Jefferson’s letters indicate that he met with Buffon occasionally for a little more than a year. Writing to James Madison in July, 1787, Jefferson noted that he took exception to Buffon’s characterization of chemistry as similar to cooking with a recipe. He wrote, “I think it . . . among the most useful of sciences, and big with future discoveries for the utility and safety of the human race.” He later commented to several correspondents on Buffon’s death, even sharing some gossip about the strained relations between Buffon’s son and his wife.
In 1781, William Smellie began translating the Natural History into English, a project he would not live to complete. Smellie was the first to point out Buffon’s contributions as a systematic thinker, appreciating the scope of the work and shaping English-speaking readers’ attitudes toward the work for years to come.
Buffon undertook an ambitious and controversial project when he set out to write a history of the world based on limited resources and a good deal of cribbing of the ideas of others. He seems to have provided the basis for an early amortization table
His positions also sparked heated debate. He posited that Europe was superior to America, and (perhaps most criticized today) he depended more on scientific literature than he did on scientific experimentation as the source of knowledge.
Nevertheless, Buffon was a man of the Enlightenment, raising questions about people and the world and attempting to answer them outside a theological context. He tackled complex problems and provided simple and logical answers, writing for general readers. He synthesized and ordered complex forms of knowledge, and he showed both the limits and the possibilities of one bold mind at work.
Though he was controversial and has been discredited by a number of modern scientists, Buffon remains admired for his contributions to evolutionary theory, biochemistry, genetics, anthropology, natural philosophy, and literature.
-
Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc. Natural History: General and Particular. Translated by William Smellie. 1781. Reprint. Bristol, Avon, England: Thoemmes Press, 2000. The English translation of Buffon’s work. A crucial document for eighteenth century histories of science. -
Fellows, Otis E., and Stephen F. Milliken. Buffon. New York: Twayne, 1972. Comprehensive analysis of Buffon’s life and the main ideas of the Natural History. -
Glass, Bentley, et al. Forerunners of Darwin, 1745-1839. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1959. Discusses Buffon’s place in evolutionary theory. -
Jefferson, Thomas. Writings. New York: Library Classics, 1984. Includes “Notes on the State of Virginia” and selections from Jefferson’s correspondence about Buffon. -
Roger, Jacques. Buffon: A Life in Natural History. Translated by Sarah L. Bonnefoi. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1997. Translation of the definitive modern life of Buffon, first published in French in 1989.
Linnaeus Creates the Binomial System of Classification
D’Alembert Develops His Axioms of Motion
Marggraf Extracts Sugar from Beets
Maupertuis Provides Evidence of “Hereditary Particles”
Monro Distinguishes Between Lymphatic and Blood Systems
Haller Establishes Physiology as a Science
Beginning of Selective Livestock Breeding
Spallanzani Disproves Spontaneous Generation
Ingenhousz Discovers Photosynthesis
Comte de Buffon; Étienne Bonnot de Condillac; Thomas Jefferson; Voltaire.