After Buffon became the general manager, in addition to expanding the Imperial Garden, he also established the organization "Correspondents of French Imperial Garden and Natural History Research Office", which attracted many famous experts, scholars and travelers at home and abroad and collected a large number of samples and specimens of animals, plants and minerals. Taking advantage of this superior condition, Buffon devoted himself to the study of natural history all his life, and worked hard every day for forty years, and finally wrote a 36-volume masterpiece Natural History. This is a natural history, including earth history, human history, animal history, bird history and mineral history. It synthesizes numerous factual materials, gives an accurate, detailed and scientific description and explanation of nature, and puts forward many valuable viewpoints. It is Buffon's great contribution to modern science to get rid of all kinds of religious superstitions and ignorant rumors and expel God from the universe. He insisted on explaining the formation of the earth and the origin of human beings from the materialistic point of view, pointing out that the earth has many similarities with the sun, and the earth is a cool little sun; The material evolution on the earth produced plants and animals, and finally human beings; The evolution of human beings is not that Adam and Eve, the ancestor of human beings, ate the forbidden fruit to gain wisdom, but that they gained knowledge and increased their talents in social practice. Buffon observed and studied the earth, mountains, rivers and oceans, looking for the root causes of ground changes, and created a precedent for modern geology. Especially in the Origin of Species, he advocated the theory of biotransformation, pointing out that species mutate due to the influence of environment, climate and nutrition, which had a direct impact on the later evolution theory. Darwin called him "the first person to treat this problem scientifically in modern times" (Introduction to the Origin of Species). The literary value of natural history is also very high, among which the description of animal activity patterns is especially artistic. On the basis of scientific observation, the author sketched the portraits of various animals with vivid language, and also reflected the anti-feudal democratic ideological tendency to some extent through anthropomorphism.
1749, three volumes of natural prehistory were published, which caused a sensation in European academic circles. Because it explained the origin of the world from a materialistic point of view, it was accused by the theological fortress of the theological seminary of Paris University as "deviant" and demanded "religious sanctions". Buffon was forced to write to the seminary to declare that he "had no intention of refuting the Bible" and promised to publish this letter at the forefront when the fourth volume of natural history was published in the future. Later, in natural history, in order to hide the eyes and ears of theologians, he often carried out the name of God. But he whispered to people, "just change the name and put it on the force of nature." In fact, he still sticks to his materialistic stance.
The successive publication of various volumes of natural history has brought Buffon a greater reputation. 1753 was elected as an academician of the French Academy. On the Style is a famous speech delivered at the time of admission, and it is a classic literary theory. In view of the fashion of pursuing beauty and exquisiteness in the literary world at that time, he called for articles to be meaningful and approachable, and put forward the famous saying that "style is people", emphasizing the decisive role of ideological content in artistic form. 1777, the French government built a bronze statue for him in the imperial garden, which read in Latin: "For a genius as great as nature". This is Buffon's highest honor before his death.
Buffon introduced.
Buffon (1707- 1788) is a French naturalist and writer. Born in Monbar, Burgundy province. Born into a noble family, his father is a state legislature judge. Educated by the church since childhood, I like natural science. At the age of 26, he entered the French Academy of Sciences. Director of the Royal Garden (Botanical Garden) from 1739. 1753 was accepted as an academician by the French Academy. He devoted his life to the management of royal gardens and spent 40 years writing 36 volumes of natural history.
Buffon's main work, Natural History, is a natural history, including the history of earth formation, animal history, human history, bird history, reptile history and various stages of nature, and gives a materialistic explanation of nature. He inferred from a large number of physical specimens, opposed the assumption of "authority" and put forward many valuable ideas to guide later scientists. He explained that there is no place for God in the universe, and 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 vilified, but as a writer, he was universally praised. His natural history is full of emotions, and the performance of nature is an epic. His hunting of lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, dogs and foxes, and his creation of beavers are vivid and still loved by people today.
In his speech "On Style" at the entrance ceremony of the French Academy, Buffon pointed out that a writer must write his own thoughts into immortal words in order to be immortal and not be plundered by others. Thought is public property, while writing (that is, style) belongs to the writer himself. Science is progressing constantly, and scientific arguments are bound to be surpassed by new research results, but the style of the article is irreplaceable by future generations. The French phrase "writing as a person" or "writing as a person" comes from Buffon's famous saying "style belongs to the individual".
Evaluation of Buffon in the History of French Literature
Buffon is famous for his vast natural history. According to secondary reasons such as temperament and personality, bourgeois literary historians regard Buffon as a writer who is "completely different" from the Enlightenment writer and "divorced from18th century". Buffon's materialistic world outlook, which emphasizes ideological literary thoughts, belongs to the social and political ideal of humanistic tradition and is completely in tune with the Enlightenment in18th century. Although he worked in his own way in the field of natural science, his contribution was integrated into the mainstream of the spirit of the times, namely the Enlightenment. His natural history, basic materialism and large scale are somewhat similar to the encyclopedia edited by Diderot. Of course, its combativeness is far from that of an encyclopedia.
Buffon was born in a lawyer's family in Montbar, Burgundy, France. His father was a judge of the court, and obtained the fief through inheritance and became a nobleman. Buffon was educated in a missionary school since childhood, but he loved natural science, especially mathematics. After graduating from high school, he also studied law and medicine. 1723, he met a young British duke and traveled to the south of France, Switzerland and Italy together. Under the influence of the Duke's tutor and German scholar Sinkman, he began to study natural history. 1732 after he returned to Paris, he studied hard and studied hard. 1733 entered the French Academy of Sciences and translated the works of British scholars on botany and Newton's calculus. From 65438 to 0739, he served as the manager of the royal garden until his death. He used the conditions of the imperial garden for natural history research all his life. /kloc-started writing natural history in 0/748. With the help of several assistants, he worked hard and devoted himself to writing books every day for decades. Finally, 36 volumes of masterpieces were completed.
After the publication of the first three volumes of Natural History, because it explained the origin of the world from a materialistic point of view, it was denounced as "deviant" by the theological seminary of Paris University and faced with the danger of "religious sanctions". Buffon took a compromise attitude and respectfully wrote a letter to the seminary, stating that he "had no intention of refuting the Bible", but since then, he still insisted on his materialistic position in natural history. This paper brought Buffon a great reputation before his death. 1753 was elected as an academician of the French Academy, and the speech he delivered when he was admitted to the hospital was the famous style theory.
Natural history is a natural history, but its language is beautiful and there is no lack of artistic image description, so it also has literary value. It includes the history of the formation of the earth, the history of animals, the history of human beings and the history of birds. It gives a materialistic description and explanation of the whole nature and eliminates religious superstition and ignorance. For example, in The Formation of the Earth and the Origin of Man, he deviated from the religious road and rebelled against Genesis, describing how the fire mass split from the sun cooled down to the earth, how the material on the earth changed, how animals and plants came into being, and finally human beings came into being; The development of mankind is not that Adam and Eve ate the fruit of wisdom as the Bible says, but that they increased their wisdom in the production struggle. In the whole natural history, God does not exist. It is a great contribution of natural history to expel God from the explanation of the universe. Because Buffon insisted on using materialism to explain the world, and his research was based on a large number of physical specimens, he opposed transcendental assumptions and guesses, so he put forward many scientifically valuable views. He is a pioneer of modern geology, and his description of biology has a direct impact on later evolution. On the origin of species, Darwin called him "the first person in modern science to treat this problem".
Buffon is the successor and propagandist of bourgeois humanism. In his world picture, God is not a master, and the master is a man. Everything depends not on God, but on people's hands. He enthusiastically sang people's carols:
With his wisdom, many animals have been domesticated, harnessed and tamed, and forced to obey him forever; Under his labor, swamps were drained, rivers were stopped, rapids were eliminated, forests were developed and wasteland was reclaimed; Use his thinking to calculate time, measure space and see through the movement of celestial bodies; With the technology produced by his science, he crossed the ocean and mountains, shortened the distance between people everywhere, and discovered the new continent. Qian Qian, an absolutely isolated land, was under his control; In short, the whole surface of the earth today is marked with human strength ... The reason why nature can develop in an all-round way and gradually reach the perfection and glory we see today is entirely due to our hands.
This enthusiastic praise reflected the enterprising spirit of the emerging bourgeoisie at that time.
The description of animals is of literary value and high artistry in natural history. Buffon did not introduce these animals with a completely objective attitude, but described them with friendly feelings and vivid language, thus describing them vividly, concretely and interestingly. In his works, the little squirrel is kind and lovely, the elephant is gentle and honest, and the pigeon couple love each other. Buffon also tends to personify animals and give them some personality. Horses are brave and loyal warriors, and dogs are loyal servants, all of which are highly respected by Buffon. Woodpeckers work as hard as hard workers and get the sympathy of the author; Beaver is peaceful, without fighting, which aroused his yearning; He compared the wolf to a "worthless" cruel and cowardly tyrant and described the swan as a peaceful and enlightened monarch. Buffon personified animals through bourgeois theory of human nature, which reflected his social and political views, showed his dissatisfaction with feudal autocratic politics, and entrusted his historical idealistic ideal of "enlightened monarch". His animal portraits have allegorical significance, and their implications are permeated with bourgeois positions and viewpoints.