| Baron Georges Cuvier was a pioneer in the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology. He studied the regularity of natural forms and processes, and he produced a theory of the "correlation of parts" to explain the functional basis of living structures and processes. He was among the first to study and classify fossils. He was widely known throughout Europe and America for his often accurate reconstructions of extinct species based on their skeletal remains. Although largely self taught, he worked for years at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and obtained many influential academic and administrative posts. His analysis of cats from Egyptian tombs led him to argue that organic evolution did not occur, since ancient felines were so similar to their modern counterparts. Although a staunch anti-evolutionist, his detailed understanding of anatomy and extinct species was often cited by evolutionists as evidence of dynamism in species development. Cuvier helped to put forth a version of catastrophism, that is, the belief that separately created animals had been subject to floods and other natural disasters that wiped out whole types of creatures. Images of such catastrophic destruction can be found in the poetry of Shelley, Byron, Keats, and Tennyson. In this sense, Cuvier helped to lead others to modern ideas about extinction while himself denying gradual change within organisms. He was involved in famous debates with Lamarck over the relationship between extinction and morphological change and with St. Hilaire over animal classification. |
| Discourse on
the Revolutionary Upheavals on the Surface of the Earth
(full-text link, Ian Johnston) |