Leclerc, George-Louis Collection
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 7 September 1707-16 April 1788 was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopaédiste.
His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier.
Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire Naturelle during his lifetime; with additional volumes based on his notes and further research.