Oeuvres Completes De Buffon (20 Volume Set)

A quality set. 20 volume set. 21 cm. Green leather spines, with green marbled boards. All bindings sound. Minor rubbing to extremities. Unmarked pages. Scattered foxing. 4 folding color engraved maps and 181 color engravings of mammals and birds.Includes: T.I: Theorie de la terre. T.II: Theorie de la terre (suite). Histoire des mineraux: introduction. T.III: Histoire des mineraux. Epoques de la nature. T.IV a VII: Histoire des mineraux. Experiences sur les vegetaux (T.VII)--T.VIII a IX: Histoire des animaux. de l'homme. T.X a XIV: Histoire des animaux. T.XV a XX: Oiseaux. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, was a noted scientist whose monumental works in natural sciences influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. (Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought. p 330) Buffon's work was based on the methods of observation and experimentation. He raised many of the fundamental problems of biology in a scientific context. One of Buffon's most important contributions was the popularization of the old earth theory, in opposition to Archbishop Ussher's biblical earth time-line. Buffon was an important pre-cursor to Darwin. Cited as the father of biogeography, Buffon's Law postulated that creatures "improved" and "degenerated" after dispersing from a center of creation. He based his theory on comparative anatomy studies. Buffon tried to explain the origin of living things by spontaneous generation of elementary particles and its development as a consequence of climate and diet. Buffon argued that all members of a family of species descended from the same ancestors, a "unity of type". This is an oversized or heavy book that requires additional postage for international delivery outside of Canada and the US.…