(Anthropocene) BUFFON, Georges Louis M. Le Clerc, Comte de. 
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Epochen der Natur übersetzt aus dem Französischen des Herrn Grafen von Buffon, Aufseher der Garten und das Cabinet des Königes von Frankreich … übersetzt aus dem Französischen (von Johann Friedrich Hackmann). 2 Vols.- St. Petersburg: verlegts Johann Zacharias Logan, 1781. 8vo. (190 x 130 mm) 204 pp.; 190 pp. with engraved titelvign., 2 fold. engraved maps, and 3 engraved plates. Contemporary half calf, gilt spine in compart-ments, spine slightly defective through worming, slightly tanned, with a few stains; the title page and first few pages have some glue stains, else a nice copy.
Exceedingly rare first German edition of Buffon's theory of the history of the earth, „Les Époques de la nature“ (1778), one of the first great popular science books, a work of style and insight that was devoured by Catherine the Great of Russia and influenced Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, W. Vernadsky (inventor of geosphere, biosphere), et al. Buffon (1707 – 1788) is considered an early precursor to the Anthropocene concept, identifying humans as a significant geological force. He proposed that humanity was shaping the Earth's surface and biosphere, notably in his seventh epoch, anticipating modern concerns about human environmental impact. It is the first geological history of the world, stretching from the Earth’s origins to its foreseen end, and though Buffon was limited by the scientific knowledge of his era - the substance of the Earth was not, as he asserts, dragged out of the sun by a giant comet, nor is the sun’s heat generated by tidal forces - many of his deductions appear today as startling insights. In seven epochs, Buffon reveals the main features of an evolving Earth, from its hard rock substrate to the sedimentary layers on top, from the minerals and fossils found within these layers to volcanoes, earthquakes, and rises and falls in sea level - and he even touches on age-old mysteries like why the sun shines. In one of many moments of striking scientific prescience, Buffon details evidence for species extinction a generation before Cuvier’s more famous assertion of the phenomenon. His seventh and final epoch does nothing less than offer the first geological glimpse of the idea that humans are altering the very foundations of the Earth - an idea of remarkable resonance as we debate the designation of another epoch: the Anthropocene. The original edition also featuring Buffon’s extensive „Notes Justificatives,“ in which he offers further evidence to support his assertions (and discusses vanished monstrous North American beasts - what we know as mastodons - as well as the potential existence of human giants). The fine double-hemisphere map of the poles shows on the northern hemisphere, the north of North America, with the St. Lawrence River in the east and a broken coastline in the west; and on the southern, the tips of Terres Magellaniques, Terre de Diemen, and N. Zelande, along with the tracks of Captain Cook and other explorers. Provenance: Library of the Dukes of Schönborn - Buchheim (Sign. 618). Fromm 4265; vgl. Pogg. I, 338; Wellcome II, 268; Norman 370; VD18 11105291. ( Darwin, Evolution, Zeit, Geologie, Anthropocene, Climate )
3200,- EUR
inkl. 7% USt./incl. 7% VAT
Sachgebiete: Geologie, Mineralogie, Naturwissenschaften, Zoologie
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