Buffon (1707-1788), French naturalist and writer. Born into an aristocratic family, he received church education from an early age and was interested in natural science. Entered the French Academy of Sciences at the age of 26. From 1739 he served as director of the Royal Garden (Botanical Garden). In 1753, he was accepted as an academician of the French Academy. He devoted his whole life to managing the royal gardens, and spent 40 years writing the 36-volume "Natural History". He was a contemporary of the Encyclopedists, but did not participate in the Enlightenment.
Buffon's main work "Natural History" is a natural history, including "The Formation of the Earth", "The History of Animals", "The History of Humanity", "The History of Birds", "The History of Reptiles", "The Periods of Nature" "" and several other parts provide a materialistic explanation of nature. He made inferences based on a large number of physical specimens, opposed the assumption of "authority", and put forward many valuable ideas, which led the way for subsequent scientists. There is no place for God in the universe he explained. The master of the universe is not God but man. Man is the center of nature and determines everything around him.
As a scientist, Buffon was denigrated, but as a writer, he was universally praised. The "Natural History" he wrote is full of emotions. Among them, "The Periods of Nature" is an epic poem. He describes the hunting of lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, dogs, and foxes, and the building of beavers in figurative language. , the anthropomorphic description is vivid and lively, and it is still loved by people today.
In his lecture "On Style" at the admission ceremony of the Collège de France, Buffon proposed that a writer must enshrine his thoughts in immortal words so that he will not be robbed by others and will last forever. Thoughts are public property, while writing style (i.e., style) belongs to the writer himself. Science is constantly progressing, and scientific arguments will definitely be surpassed by new research results, but the style of writing cannot be replaced by future generations. The common saying in French that "the writing is like the person" or "the writing is like the person" is derived from Buffon's famous saying "Style is personal".