Scientists
Georges Cuvier
Also Known As Baron Cuvier
Naturalist
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French naturalist and zoologist, often called the founding father of paleontology, who established extinction as a scientific fact when many contemporaries held it to be speculation. His study of the Paris basin strata with Alexandre Brongniart established the basic principles of biostratigraphy, and his proposal that extinct species had been wiped out by periodic catastrophic flooding made him the most influential proponent of catastrophism in early 19th century geology. His record also carries a serious stain: his racial studies provided part of the foundation for scientific racism, including his treatment of Sarah Baartman.
Facts
Defining ContributionEstablished extinction as a scientific fact and became the most influential proponent of catastrophism in early 19th century geology 1 Notable WorkRecherches sur les ossemens fossiles (1812), whose Preliminary Discourse became the Discours sur les revolutions de la surface du Globe 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Collaborated with Cuvier on the 1804 to 1811 survey of the Paris basin strata, publishing joint findings in 1808 and an expanded version in 1811.
Concepts Credited
Cuvier popularised the concept in the early 19th century, proposing that new life-forms had moved in after local floods.
Works In
The most influential proponent of catastrophism in geology in the early 19th century.
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