This memoir provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of the famous French naturalist, Georges Cuvier, who invented the concept of extinction and contributed greatly to the study of animal anatomy. The book narrates his travels and scientific breakthroughs, as well as his personal life, including his passion for women and his eccentricities. This work is an engaging blend of science and history that will appeal to readers interested in both fields. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This 1833 biography of Cuvier remained the authoritative work in English on the most distinguished scientist of the age.

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Excerpt from Memoirs Baron Cuvier Before I enter upon the subject of this volume, I would explain to my readers the motives which have induced me to write it, in order to prevent that appearance of presumption, which may naturally be laid to the charge of an unlearned person, who attempts to write the life of so illustrious a savant. When death has torn from us those whom we have most loved and revered, and the overwhelming bitterness of grief is past, the first feeling which awakens us from our sorrow is the desire to uphold the memory, and to make known to all men the virtues of the being enshrined in our hearts; a feeling which springs, not only from an honest pride in doing justice to one who is no more, but from a desire that posterity should benefit by the example. Rousing myself, then, from the stunning grief which at first assailed me, I eagerly sought all the public notices which appeared in England concerning the Baron Cuvier, in the hope of finding something equal to his high deserts; but though all did him the justice of placing him above every other naturalist, not one spoke of his talents as a legislator, and all equally neglected his private character. This, and the almost universal incorrectness of detail, no doubt proceeded from ignorance rather than intention; yet, disappointed as I was that my countrymen should have so little known and appreciated one of the most admirable persons of our time, nothing, at that moment, could be further from my thoughts than to supply the deficiencies by my own pen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.