{"product_id":"copy-of-bird-de-buffon-birds-by-george-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon-c-1790","title":"Bird: de Buffon,  Birds by George-Louis Leclerc, Heron, Comte de Buffon, c 1789","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBirds, George-Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDate: c1789\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Leclerc George Louis\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Massart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEngraver: Pretre\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaper Size: 155 x 245\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: good, tonal markings on edges\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTechnique: steel engraving,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrice: $100\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDescription: original steel engraving, hand coloured\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Biography: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 7 September 1707-16 April 1788 \u003c\/span\u003ewas a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_people\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eFrench\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Natural_history\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003enaturalist\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mathematician\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003emathematician\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cosmology\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ecosmologist\u003c\/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Encyclop%C3%A9distes\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eencyclopédiste\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHis works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJean-Baptiste Lamarck\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges_Cuvier\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eGeorges Cuvier\u003c\/a\u003e. Buffon published thirty-six \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quarto\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003equarto\u003c\/a\u003e volumes of his \u003cem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Histoire_Naturelle\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHistoire Naturelle\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e during his lifetime; with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-1\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[1]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ernst_Mayr\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eErnst Mayr\u003c\/a\u003e wrote that \"Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century\".\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-Mayrp330-2\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[2]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon held the position of \u003cem\u003eintendant\u003c\/em\u003e (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jardin_des_Plantes\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJardin des Plantes\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eGeorges Louis Leclerc (later Comte de Buffon) was born at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Montbard\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMontbard\u003c\/a\u003e, in the Province of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Burgundy_(historical_region)\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBurgundy\u003c\/a\u003e to Benjamin Francois Leclerc, a minor local official in charge of the salt tax and Anne-Christine Marlin also from a family of civil servants. Georges was named after his mother's uncle (his godfather) Georges Blaisot, the tax-farmer of the Duke of Savoy for all of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sicily\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eSicily\u003c\/a\u003e. In 1714 Blaisot died childless, leaving a considerable fortune to his seven-year-old godson. Benjamin Leclerc then purchased an estate containing the nearby village of Buffon and moved the family to Dijon acquiring various offices there as well as a seat in the Dijon Parlement.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eGeorges attended the Jesuit College of Godrans in Dijon from the age of ten onwards. From 1723–1726 he then studied law in Dijon, the prerequisite for continuing the family tradition in civil service. In 1728 Georges left Dijon to study mathematics and medicine at the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/University_of_Angers\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eUniversity of Angers\u003c\/a\u003e in France. At Angers in 1730 he made the acquaintance of the young English \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Evelyn_Pierrepont,_2nd_Duke_of_Kingston-upon-Hull\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eDuke of Kingston\u003c\/a\u003e, who was on his grand tour of Europe, and traveled with him on a large and expensive entourage for a year and a half through southern France and parts of Italy. Georges-Louis Leclerc had an elder brother, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pierre_Daubenton\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ePierre Daubenton\u003c\/a\u003e (1703–1776), who wrote numerous articles for the \u003cem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Encyclop%C3%A9die\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eEncyclopédie\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Denis_Diderot\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eDiderot\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eThere are persistent but completely undocumented rumors from this period about duels, abductions and secret trips to England. In 1732 after the death of his mother and before the impending remarriage of his father, Georges left Kingston and returned to Dijon to secure his inheritance. Having added 'de Buffon' to his name while traveling with the Duke, he repurchased the village of Buffon, which his father had meanwhile sold off. With a fortune of about 80 000 \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_livre\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003elivres\u003c\/a\u003e Buffon set himself up in Paris to pursue science, at first primarily mathematics and mechanics, and the increase of his fortune.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCareer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn 1732 he moved to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paris\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eParis\u003c\/a\u003e, where he made the acquaintance of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Voltaire\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eVoltaire\u003c\/a\u003e and other intellectuals. He first made his mark in the field of mathematics and, in his \u003cem\u003eSur le jeu de franc-carreau\u003c\/em\u003e, introduced differential and integral \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Calculus\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ecalculus\u003c\/a\u003e into \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Probability_theory\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eprobability theory\u003c\/a\u003e; the problem of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buffon%27s_needle\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon's needle\u003c\/a\u003e in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Probability_theory\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eprobability theory\u003c\/a\u003e is named after him. In 1734 he was admitted to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_Academy_of_Sciences\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eFrench Academy of Sciences\u003c\/a\u003e. During this period he corresponded with the Swiss mathematician \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gabriel_Cramer\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eGabriel Cramer\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHis protector \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jean-Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Ph%C3%A9lypeaux,_Count_of_Maurepas\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMaurepas\u003c\/a\u003e had asked the Academy of Sciences to do research on wood for the construction of ships in 1733. Soon afterward, Buffon began a long-term study, performing some of the most comprehensive tests to date on the mechanical properties of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wood\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ewood\u003c\/a\u003e. Included were a series of tests to compare the properties of small specimens with those of large members. After carefully testing more than a thousand small specimens without knots or other defects, Buffon concluded that it was not possible to extrapolate to the properties of full-size timbers, and he began a series of tests on full-size structural members.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn 1739 he was appointed head of the Parisian Jardin du Roi with the help of Maurepas; he held this position to the end of his life. Buffon was instrumental in transforming the Jardin du Roi into a major research centre and museum. He also enlarged it, arranging the purchase of adjoining plots of land and acquiring new botanical and zoological specimens from all over the world\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eThanks to his talent as a writer, he was invited to join Paris's second great academy, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAcadémie française\u003c\/a\u003e in 1753. In his \u003cem\u003eDiscours sur le style\u003c\/em\u003e (\"Discourse on Style\"), pronounced before the Académie française, he said, \"Writing well consists of thinking, feeling and expressing well, of clarity of mind, soul and taste ... The style is the man himself\" (\"\u003cem\u003eLe style c'est l'homme même\u003c\/em\u003e\").\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-3\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[3]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e Unfortunately for him, Buffon's reputation as a literary stylist also gave ammunition to his detractors: The mathematician \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jean_le_Rond_D%27Alembert\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJean le Rond D'Alembert\u003c\/a\u003e, for example, called him \"the great phrase-monger\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn 1752 Buffon married Marie-Françoise de Saint-Belin-Malain, the daughter of an impoverished noble family from Burgundy, who was enrolled in the convent school run by his sister. Madame de Buffon's second child, a son born in 1764, survived childhood; she herself died in 1769. When in 1772 Buffon became seriously ill and the promise that his son (then only 8) should succeed him as director of the Jardin became clearly impracticable and was withdrawn, the King raised Buffon's estates in Burgundy to the status of a county – and thus Buffon (and his son) became a Count. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences\u003c\/a\u003e in 1782.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-AAAS-4\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[4]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e Buffon died in Paris in 1788.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHe was buried in a chapel adjacent to the church of Sainte-Urse Montbard; during the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/French_Revolution\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eFrench Revolution\u003c\/a\u003e, his tomb was broken into and the lead that covered the coffin was ransacked to produce bullets. His \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Heart\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eheart\u003c\/a\u003e was initially saved, as it was guarded by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Suzanne_Necker\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eSuzanne Necker\u003c\/a\u003e (wife of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jacques_Necker\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJacques Necker\u003c\/a\u003e), but was later lost. Today, only Buffon's \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cerebellum\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ecerebellum\u003c\/a\u003e remains, as it is kept in the base of the statue by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pajou\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ePajou\u003c\/a\u003e that \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louis_XVI\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eLouis XVI\u003c\/a\u003e had commissioned in his honor in 1776, located at the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Museum_of_Natural_History\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMuseum of Natural History\u003c\/a\u003e in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paris\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eParis\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublications\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon's \u003cem\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Histoire_naturelle\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHistoire naturelle, générale et particulière\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e (1749–1788: in 36 volumes; an additional volume based on his notes appeared in 1789) was originally intended to cover all three \"kingdoms\" of nature but the \u003cem\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/em\u003e ended up being limited to the animal and mineral kingdoms, and the animals covered were only the birds and quadrupeds. \"Written in a brilliant style, this work was read ... by every educated person in Europe\".\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-Mayrp330-2\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[2]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e Those who assisted him in the production of this great work included \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louis-Jean-Marie_Daubenton\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eLouis-Jean-Marie Daubenton\u003c\/a\u003e, Philibert Guéneau de Montbeillard, and Gabriel-Léopold Bexon, along with numerous artists. Buffon's \u003cem\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/em\u003e was translated into many different languages, making him one of the most widely read authors of the day, a rival to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Montesquieu\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMontesquieu\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rousseau\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eRousseau\u003c\/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Voltaire\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eVoltaire\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn the opening volumes of the \u003cem\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/em\u003e Buffon questioned the usefulness of mathematics, criticized \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Carl_Linnaeus\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eCarl Linnaeus\u003c\/a\u003e's taxonomical approach to natural history, outlined a history of the Earth with little relation to the Biblical account, and proposed a theory of reproduction that ran counter to the prevailing theory of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Preformationism\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003epre-existence\u003c\/a\u003e. The early volumes were condemned by the Faculty of Theology at the Sorbonne. Buffon published a retraction, but he continued publishing the offending volumes without any change.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn the course of his examination of the animal world, Buffon noted that despite similar environments, different regions have distinct plants and animals, a concept later known as Buffon's Law. This is considered to be the first principle of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Biogeography\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ebiogeography\u003c\/a\u003e. He made the suggestion that species may have both \"improved\" and \"degenerated\" after dispersing from a center of creation. In volume 14 he argued that all the world's \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quadruped\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003equadrupeds\u003c\/a\u003e had developed from an original set of just thirty-eight quadrupeds.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-6\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[6]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e On this basis, he is sometimes considered a \"transformist\" and a precursor of Darwin. He also asserted that \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Climate_change_(general_concept)\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eclimate change\u003c\/a\u003e may have facilitated the worldwide spread of species from their centers of origin. Still, interpreting his ideas on the subject is not simple, for he returned to topics many times in the course of his work\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon considered the similarities between humans and apes, but ultimately rejected the possibility of a common descent. He debated with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Burnett,_Lord_Monboddo\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJames Burnett, Lord Monboddo\u003c\/a\u003e on the relationship of the primates to man, Monboddo insisting, against Buffon, on a close relationship.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAt one point, Buffon propounded a theory that nature in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_World\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eNew World\u003c\/a\u003e was inferior to that of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eurasia\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eEurasia\u003c\/a\u003e. He argued that the Americas were lacking in large and powerful creatures, and that even the people were less virile than their European counterparts. He ascribed this inferiority to the marsh odors and dense forests of the American continent. These remarks so incensed \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Jefferson\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eThomas Jefferson\u003c\/a\u003e that he dispatched twenty soldiers to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Hampshire\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eNew Hampshire\u003c\/a\u003e woods to find a bull \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moose\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003emoose\u003c\/a\u003e for Buffon as proof of the \"stature and majesty of American quadrupeds\".\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-bullmoose-8\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[8]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e Buffon later admitted his error.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eLes époques de la nature\u003c\/em\u003e (1778) Buffon discussed the origins of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Solar_system\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003esolar system\u003c\/a\u003e, speculating that the planets had been created by a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Comet\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ecomet\u003c\/a\u003e's collision with the sun.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-9\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[9]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e He also suggested that the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Age_of_the_Earth\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eearth originated\u003c\/a\u003e much earlier than 4004 BC, the date determined by Archbishop \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Ussher\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJames Ussher\u003c\/a\u003e. Basing his figures on the cooling rate of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Iron\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eiron\u003c\/a\u003e tested at his Laboratory the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Petit_Fontenet.JPG\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003ePetit Fontenet\u003c\/a\u003e at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Montbard\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMontbard\u003c\/a\u003e, he calculated that the age of the earth was 75,000 years. Once again, his ideas were condemned by the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sorbonne\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eSorbonne\u003c\/a\u003e, and once again he issued a retraction to avoid further problems.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-10\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[10]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eRacial studies\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Johann_Blumenbach\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eJohann Blumenbach\u003c\/a\u003e were believers in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monogenism\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003emonogenism\u003c\/a\u003e, the concept that all races have a single origin. They also believed in the \"Degeneration theory\" of racial origins. They both said that \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Adam_and_Eve\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAdam and Eve\u003c\/a\u003e were \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Caucasian_race\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eCaucasian\u003c\/a\u003e and that other races came about by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Degeneration\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003edegeneration\u003c\/a\u003e from environmental factors, such as the sun and poor diet. They believed that the degeneration could be reversed if proper environmental control was taken, and that all contemporary forms of man could revert to the original \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Caucasian_race\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eCaucasian race\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBuffon and Blumenbach claimed that \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pigmentation\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003epigmentation\u003c\/a\u003e arose because of the heat of the tropical sun. They suggested cold wind caused the tawny colour of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eskimos\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eEskimos\u003c\/a\u003e. They thought the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chinese_people\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eChinese\u003c\/a\u003e relatively fair-skinned compared to the other Asian stocks because they kept mostly in towns and were protected from environmental factors. Buffon said that food and the mode of living could make races degenerate and distinguish them from the original Caucasian race.\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges-Louis_Leclerc,_Comte_de_Buffon#cite_note-Harris-11\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[11]\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBelieving in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monogenism\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003emonogenism\u003c\/a\u003e, Buffon thought that skin color could change in a single lifetime, depending on the conditions of climate and diet. Buffon was an advocate of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Asia_hypothesis\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAsia hypothesis\u003c\/a\u003e; in his \u003cem\u003eHistoire Naturelle\u003c\/em\u003e, he argued that humans' birthplace must be in a high temperate zone. As he believed good climate conditions would breed healthy humans, he hypothesized that the most logical place to look for the first humans' existence would be in Asia and around the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Caspian_Sea\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eCaspian Sea\u003c\/a\u003e region.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiquarian Print Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39269004214358,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1617\/1641\/products\/HerronTc5_1102.jpg?v=1618014550","url":"https:\/\/antiquarianprintshop.com\/products\/copy-of-bird-de-buffon-birds-by-george-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon-c-1790","provider":"Antiquarian Print Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}