Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc (1707–1788)

French naturalist and author of the 18th century's most significant work of natural history, the 44-volume Histoire naturelle génerale et particulière (1749–67). In The Epochs of Nature, one of the volumes, he questioned biblical chronology for the first time, and raised the Earth's age from the traditional figure of 6,000 years to the seemingly colossal estimate of 75,000 years.

Buffon was born in Montbard, Burgundy, and educated in Dijon. He travelled a great deal and spent some time in England, where science was undergoing a renaissance. He translated the works of Isaac Newton and Stephen Hales into French. Buffon was director of the Jardin du Roi botanical gardens from 1739.

Buffon's encyclopedia was the first work to cover the whole of natural history and it was extremely popular. In considering the age of the Earth, he observed that some animals retain parts that are vestigial and no longer useful, suggesting that they have evolved rather than having been spontaneously generated. This upset the authorities because it conflicted with a literal reading of the Bible, and Buffon was forced to recant.