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)
In nature, nothing is isolated; everything is connected.
The progress of geology is the progress of the history of life.
The variety of life is a testament to the infinite creativity of nature.
To classify is to render thought economical.
The great epochs of nature are marked by the disappearance of ancient forms and the appearance of new ones.
The study of animals is the study of adaptations to conditions of existence.
The plan of an animal can be deduced from any significant part of it.
The present state of the living world is but a moment in a long and tumultuous history.
The fixity of species is the cornerstone of zoological classification.
Catastrophes are the punctuation marks in the book of life.
The harmony of the organism is the result of the correlation of its functions.
The naturalist must be both an observer and a reasoner.
The past is a foreign country; its life forms are the foreigners.
Without the principle of the correlation of parts, paleontology would be mere guesswork.
Contemporaries of Georges Cuvier
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges Cuvier (1769–1832).