Georges Cuvier - Histoire des progrès des sciences naturelles - 1838

Georges Cuvier. History of the progress of natural sciences. Brussels, Belgian Society of the Book Trade, 1838, 484 pp., 516 pp.

2 volumes in-8 (240x160 mm), paperback. Wear and rubbing on the boards and the spine, paper losses on the upper and lower parts of the spines. Some foxing but mostly clean overall. Ex-libris of Philippe Taquet, French paleontologist, pasted on the flyleaf.

Belgian edition; complete in two volumes.

Synthesis of the advances in natural sciences since 1789, covering notably the works published in zoology, comparative anatomy, botany, mineralogy, geology, chemistry, and physiology.

Volume I is devoted to the progress of natural sciences during the first period studied by Cuvier and examines notably zoology, comparative anatomy, botany, and mineralogy.

Volume II continues this history with numerous works in zoology and physiology: osteology, anatomy of animals, nervous system, respiration, circulation, development, as well as research on mollusks, crustaceans, insects, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals. It also contains developments on chemistry and geology, notably minerals, rocks, and volcanic phenomena.

Cuvier reports the research of numerous scholars, among whom Berzelius, Davy, Gay-Lussac, Thénard, Brongniart, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Latreille, Flourens, Magendie, and Vauquelin.