Georges Cuvier, Fossil Bones, and Geological Catastrophes: New Translations and Interpretations of the Primary Texts - Softcover

Rudwick, Martin J. S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226731073 ISBN 13: 9780226731070

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1998

Synopsis

French zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) helped form and bring credibility to geology and paleontology. Here Martin J. S. Rudwick provides the first modern translation of Cuvier's essential writings on fossils and catastrophes and links these translated texts together with his own insightful narrative and interpretive commentary.

"Martin Rudwick has done English-speaking science a considerable service by translating and commenting on Cuvier's work. . . . He guides us through Cuvier's most important writings, especially those which demonstrate his new technique of comparative anatomy."—Douglas Palmer, New Scientist

About this title

Review:

French zoologist and geologist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) is remembered largely for opposing pre-Darwinian theories of evolution and instead advancing his theory of catastrophism. When evolution took the fore, many of Cuvier's ideas were swept aside. Martin J. S. Rudwick makes a good case, in this edition of several of Cuvier's key papers, for restoring the scientist to currency; his ideas anticipated modern research in mass extinctions and what Stephen Jay Gould calls "punctuated equilibrium." This collection is especially interesting in tracing the formation of Cuvier's ideas on the fossil record--another idea we owe to him.

About the Author:

Martin J. S. Rudwick is professor emeritus of history at the University of California, San Diego and affiliated scholar in the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0226731073
• ISBN 13: 9780226731070
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 318