Source: National Archives & Historic Records of Kingdom of France
Science • Historical Archive • 🇫🇷 France • 3 views

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 🇫🇷

Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon (Known as "Buffon")
Naturalist, Mathematician, Director of Jardin du Roi, Author of Histoire Naturelle (36 Volumes)
Born Sep 07, 1707 🇫🇷 Montbard (Burgundy), France
Passed Away Apr 16, 1788 Paris, Kingdom of France
Lifespan 80 years old
3 views
Notice / Correction
"Le style est l'homme même (Style is the man himself; true science must be clothed in the dignity of noble expression)."

Archival Overview

Monumental French naturalist, mathematician, and cosmologist who directed the Jardin du Roi (Muséum national d'histoire naturelle) and authored the monumental 36-volume Histoire Naturelle, establishing modern natural history.

Biographical Record

Educated in law and mathematics at Dijon and Angers, Buffon inherited a fortune and solved the 'Buffon's needle problem' in geometric probability. In 1739, King Louis XV appointed him Director of the Jardin du Roi in Paris, which he expanded into a premier scientific institution.

Between 1749 and 1789, Buffon published Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, the first comprehensive, non-theological account of the earth and animal kingdom. He proposed that the Earth was far older than biblical calculations (at least 75,000 years) and declared in his Académie reception speech: 'Le style est l'homme même'.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Church of Sainte-Urse (Buffon Chapel)
Montbard (Burgundy), France
GPS: 47.6250, 4.3389
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