Georges Cuvier
A founder of paleontology and comparative anatomy, known for his work on extinction and his opposition to evolutionary theories.
Most quoted
"The animal kingdom, viewed in its entirety, presents a vast and complex network of relationships, where every part is connected to every other part, and where the destruction of one link can reverberate throughout the whole."
— from Le Règne Animal distribué d'après son organisation
"Every organized being forms a whole, a unique and closed system, of which all the parts mutually correspond and concur to the same definitive action by a reciprocal reaction."
— from The Animal Kingdom, 1817
"Our consciousness allows us to reflect on our own mortality, to ponder the meaning of our brief existence, and to seek solace in the enduring patterns of the natural world."
— from Discourse on the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe
All quotes by Georges Cuvier (414)
The observer who discovers a new fact, however small, is greater than he who invents a system.
The fossil bones of extinct animals are the most certain monuments of the revolutions of the globe.
Nature, in her works, is always consistent with herself.
The more we know, the more we are convinced that there is still much to learn.
A tooth, a vertebra, a bone of the finger, a phalanx, nay, even a tubercle, or an apophysis, announce to the anatomist the animal to which they belong.
The whole of the animal kingdom is a single, vast, and complicated machine.
The history of the earth is written in the rocks.
The present state of the surface of the globe is not its primitive state.
The more we study nature, the more we are astonished at the wisdom and power of its Author.
The species are fixed and immutable.
The study of fossils is the only means of knowing the ancient history of the earth.
The different parts of every creature are so intimately connected, that a change in one part must necessarily be followed by a change in all the others.
Every organized being forms a whole, a unique and closed system, of which all the parts mutually correspond and concur to the same definitive action by a reciprocal reaction.
The revolutions of the globe have been sudden and violent.
The more we advance in the knowledge of nature, the more we are convinced of the unity of its plan.
The study of comparative anatomy is the key to understanding the organization of living beings.
The laws of organic life are as immutable as those of inorganic matter.
The present order of things is the result of a series of catastrophes.
The history of the earth is a succession of destructions and renewals.
The fossil remains of animals are the most authentic documents of the ancient history of the globe.
Contemporaries of Georges Cuvier
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges Cuvier (1769–1832).