Cuvier’s History of the Natural Sciences

Here, for the first time in English, is Georges Cuvier’s extraordinary
“History of the Natural Sciences from Its Origin to the Present Day.” Based on
a series of public lectures presented by Cuvier from 1829 to 1832, this fourth
of a five-volume series, translated from the original French and heavily
annotated with commentary, is a detailed chronological survey of the natural
sciences in the eighteenth century. It is truly astonishing in its detail and
scope. Cuvier was fluent in many languages, English, German, Spanish, and
certainly Latin, in addition to French. He was therefore well prepared to
investigate and interpret firsthand the scientific literature of Europe as a
whole. The work is an affirmation of Cuvier’s vast encyclopedic knowledge, his
complete command of the scientific and historical literature, and his
incomparable memory. This history is remarkable also for providing in one
place a large set of useful references to a vast ancient literature that is
not easily found anywhere else. This huge body of information provides us
furthermore with unique insight into Cuvier’s concept of the natural sciences,
and to the vast breadth and progress of this human endeavor. With this work,
Cuvier fills an important gap in philosophical thought between the time of
Carl Linnaeus and Charles Darwin.