Buffon's Natural History, Volume 01 (of 10)

Buffon's Natural History, Volume 01 (of 10) - Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Mineral, &c. &c

We should certainly be guilty of a gross absurdity if, in an age like the present, we were to enter into an elaborate discussion on the advantages to be derived from the study of Natural History; the ancients recommended it as useful, instructive, and entertaining; and the moderns have so far pursued and cultivated this first of sciences, that it is now admitted to be the source of universal instruction and knowledge; where every active mind may find subjects to amuse and delight, and the artist a never failing field to enrich his glowing imagination. [vi]It would have been singular if, on such a subject, a number of authors had not submitted the produce of their observations and labour; many have written upon Natural Philosophy, but the Comte de Buffon stands eminently distinguished among them; he has entered into a minute investigation, and drawn numberless facts from unwearied observations far beyond any other, and this he has accomplished in a style fully accordant with the importance of his subject. Ray, Linnus, Rheaumur, and other of his cotemporaries, deserve much credit for their classing of animals, vegetables, &c. but it was Buffon alone who entered into a description of their nature, habits, uses, and properties. In his Theory of the Earth he has displayed a wonderful ingenuity, and shewn the general order of Nature with a masterly hand, although he may be subject to some objections for preferring physical reasonings on general [vii]causes, rather than allowing aught to have arisen from supernatural agency, or the will of the Almighty. In this he has followed the example of all great philosophers, who seem unwilling to admit that the formation of any part of the Universe is beyond their comprehension. As the works of this Author will best speak for themselves, we shall avoid unnecessary panegyric, hoping they will have received no material injury in the following translation; we shall therefore content ourselves with observing, that in our plan we have followed that adopted by the Comte himself in a latter edition, from which he exploded his long and minute treatises on anatomy and mensuration; though elegant and highly finished in themselves, they appeared to us of too abstruse and confined a nature for general estimation, and which we could not have gone into without almost doubling [viii]the expence; a circumstance we had to guard against, for the advantage of those of our readers to whom that part would have been totally uninteresting. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 44792
Author: Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc
Release Date: Jan 29, 2014
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Barr, James Smith