Georges-Louis Leclerc Buffon French naturalist, biologist, mathematician, naturalist and writer of the 18th century. Date of Birth: 07.09.1707 Country: France

Biography of Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon was a French naturalist, biologist, mathematician, scientist, and writer in the 18th century. He was a prominent figure in the field of natural history, similar in stature to Linnaeus. However, unlike Linnaeus, Buffon not only did not acknowledge a divine entity in the creation of the world, but he dedicated his entire life and research to liberating science from metaphysics and theology. Buffon focused on developing and constructing natural scientific theories on the origins of Earth, animals, plants, and humans.

Buffon was the eldest of five children born to a wealthy landowner in Burgundy. While his three brothers chose a religious career and achieved high positions in the church hierarchy, Georges Louis had a different fate. At the age of 10, he was sent to a Jesuit college in Dijon, where the whole family had relocated. His academic performance was average, and his only interest at the time was mathematics. Buffon's father wanted him to become a lawyer, so after finishing college, he studied law for three or four years. However, his passion for mathematics and natural sciences prevailed, and in 1728, Georges Louis moved to Angers to study medicine, botany, and mathematics.

In 1730, Buffon had to leave France due to his involvement in a duel. Fortunately, he met the young Duke of Kingston and his mentor, Nathaniel Higman, and embarked on a long journey with them. He returned to his homeland only after two years, just in time for his mother's death, which left him a significant inheritance. Taking advantage of this, Buffon settled in Paris against his father's wishes. He quickly gained recognition in both political and scientific circles. In 1734, he was elected to the Paris Academy of Sciences for his mathematical research, particularly in the field of probability theory. However, his interests were not limited to mathematics. He studied botany, forestry, observed animal reproduction, and also translated Isaac Newton's "Method of Fluxions and Infinite Series" and Stephen Hales' "Statical Essays on Vegetables."

A new phase in Buffon's life began in 1739 when he was appointed as the Intendant of the Royal Garden. He held this position for a remarkable 50 years until his death. Every spring, Buffon would go to his estate in Montbard, where he was born, and spend the autumn and winter in Paris. Regardless of his location, he meticulously planned his day. Buffon would wake up at dawn and dedicate the morning to scientific research. Then he would engage in financial activities and business meetings. Over the years, he managed to expand the territory of the Royal Garden by nearly double, publish numerous scientific reports on various topics, write a 36-volume "Natural History," and significantly increase his wealth. Buffon became a member of numerous scientific academies, including the St. Petersburg Academy, received a noble title, and even had a statue commissioned by Louis XVI placed in front of the entrance to the Royal Cabinet of Natural History during his lifetime. In 1753, Buffon became a member of the French Academy, one of the "40 immortals."

In Buffon's works on natural history, his leading idea was the concept of the natural origin of the surrounding world. He completely rejected the idea of any supernatural forces intervening in this process. According to him, science should be based not on faith but on laws derived from nature itself. For example, Buffon challenged Isaac Newton's idea of the divine origin of the Solar System and proposed his own hypothesis. He suggested that a passing comet, coming close to the Sun, tore off a part of its mass, which then formed planets and their satellites. Buffon considered the subsequent history of the Earth as a series of successive epochs: the gradual cooling of the planet and the formation of its crust, the condensation of moisture on its surface and the emergence of oceans, the origin of life in the oceans, the appearance of land (initially as a single continent) and terrestrial animals, the final separation of continents and the formation of their modern appearance, and the origin of humans. This concept was one of the earliest attempts to provide not only a natural scientific explanation of Earth's history but also its universal chronology, correlating biological factors with geological ones, which led many historians of science to consider Buffon as one of the founders of modern global ecology.

Based on his hypothesis, Buffon attempted to experimentally determine the age of the Earth. By measuring how the cooling time of spheres made of different materials depended on their diameters, Buffon concluded that the Earth existed for at least 75,000 years. Later, he refined his calculations and obtained a different value - 3 million years. However, he did not dare to publish this figure because, according to biblical traditions, the world was created between the 6th and 4th millennium BCE. Even 75,000 years seemed too long. The Church's reaction to this date was strongly negative, and an anonymous pamphlet even accused Buffon of almost neglecting the Creator while explaining the world's structure. Buffon also developed his own conception of the origin of life on Earth, the contemporary distribution of animals on our planet, and their diversity. He completely rejected the metaphysical idea of preformationism, which suggested the pre-existence of embryos in the parental organism, and leaned toward the perspective that the formation of embryos is determined by a special "nutritive substance" composed of organic molecules. According to Buffon, these molecules, which appeared during the Earth's development, gradually combined to form organisms. Many of them became extinct as they were not adapted to the environment. Initially, when the planet was still very hot, only very large animals could survive. As the Earth cooled, they gradually migrated from the North Pole to the equator. However, the natural conditions eventually became so unfavorable for them that they became extinct. This is why the remains of giant animals are found in Europe and North America. Meanwhile, smaller animals formed from the organic molecules that survived in the northern regions. They spread to Asia, North America, and Africa through Southern Europe. South America did not receive these animals, which explains the unique fauna there. The smaller the animals, the faster they reproduced, leading to a greater variety of species during migration. Accordingly, there were significantly fewer varieties of large animals.

Buffon was one of the first to formulate the biological criterion of a species - only creatures that, through reproduction, continue their lineage and preserve the characteristics specific to that species belong to it. The birth of a sterile animal incapable of reproduction (e.g., a mule) indicates that its parents belong to different species. According to Buffon, similarities in the external appearance and structure of animals cannot be considered as criteria for the species. Indeed, a mule resembles a horse much more than a curly Spaniel resembles an English greyhound. Buffon believed that a species was the only systematic category that actually exists in nature. All others, such as families, were merely invented for the convenience of those classifying living organisms, trying to fit this rich world into rather artificial schemes. Buffon consistently fought against any manifestations of metaphysics in this regard. Buffon developed his own classification, which he considered much simpler, enjoyable, useful, and no more speculative than any other. He placed dogs after horses because, in reality, a dog always runs after a horse. Hence, Buffon's system was based not on scientific facts but on subjective ideas about the significance of particular objects. Buffon's works, exceptionally important due to their diversity, originality, and influence on contemporaries, were published in huge editions in all European countries. Every respectable scientist was familiar with his works. Many years have passed since then, and some of Buffon's ideas have been confirmed while others have proven incorrect. However, Buffon is remembered, and his name is not forgotten. He is mentioned in school textbooks and scientific treatises. The significance lies not in the details, correctness, or incorrectness of his hypotheses but in the fact that he laid the foundations of modern natural science, being one of the first to attempt to create a comprehensive system for it.