Louis Figuier (15 February 1819 – 8 November 1894) was a French scientist and writer. He was the nephew of Pierre-Oscar Figuier and became Professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at L'Ecole de pharmacie of Montpellier. Louis Figuier was married to French writer Louise Juliette Bouscaren.

Career

Figuier became Doctor of Medicine (1841), agrégé of

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

, chemistry (1844–1853) and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and gained his PhD in (1850). Figuier was appointed professor at L'Ecole de Pharmacie of Paris after leaving Montpellier. In his research he found himself opposed to

Claude Bernard Claude Bernard (; 12 July 1813 – 10 February 1878) was a French physiologist. Historian I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science". He originated the term ''milieu intérieur'', and the a ...

; as a result of this conflict, he abandoned his research to devote himself to popular science. He edited and published a yearbook from 1857 to 1894 – ''L'Année scientifique et industrielle'' (or ''Exposé annuel des travaux'') – in which he compiled an inventory of the scientific discoveries of the year (it was continued after his death until 1914). He was the author of numerous successful works: ''Les Grandes inventions anciennes et modernes'' (1861), ''Le Savant du foyer'' (1862), ''La Terre avant le déluge'' (1863) illustrated by

Édouard Riou Édouard Riou (; 2 December 1833 – 27 January 1900) was a French illustrator who illustrated six novels by Jules Verne, as well as several other well-known works. Life Riou was born in 1833 in Saint-Servan, Ille-et-Vilaine, and studied u ...

, ''La Terre et les mers'' (1864), ''Les Merveilles de la science'' (1867–1891). He wrote extensively on the subject of photography, including it in his study on the marvels of nineteenth-century science, and also writing a self-standing book on the subject. Influenced by

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

's ''

Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man ''Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man'' is a book written by British geologist, Charles Lyell in 1863. The first three editions appeared in February, April, and November 1863, respectively. A much-revised fourth edition appeared in 1 ...

'' of 1863, the 1867 second edition of ''La Terre avant le déluge'' abandoned the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

shown in the first edition, and included dramatic illustrations of savage men and women wearing animal skins and wielding stone axes.

Main works

* ''La terre avant le deluge'', 1863, 2nd. edition 1867 **English translation, ''World Before the Deluge'', 1865 **Swedish translation by Carl Hartman, ''Jorden före syndafloden'', 1868, based on the 5th French edition * ''The Vegetable World'', 1867 * ''The Ocean World'', 1868 * ''The Insect World'', 1868 * ''Reptiles and Birds'', 1869 * ''Primitive Man'', 1871 * ''The human race'', 1872 * ''La Photographie'', 1889 * ''Les Merveilles De La Science, Ou Description Populaire Des Inventions Modernes'', (The wonders of science or a popular description of modern inventions), 1891

Footnotes

References

External links

* * * Figuier'
''Merveilles de la science''
(6 vols., 1867-1891) - digital facsimiles from

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

A selection of high-resolution scans
from Figuier's ''L'homme primitif'', ''Primitive man'', and ''Terre avant deluge'' - from

1819 births 1894 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male non-fiction writers French medical writers {{France-scientist-stub