Saint Hilaire evolutionary doctrine. Biography
The emergence of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire as an original scientist was predetermined by the results of the expedition to Egypt (1798-1801). Discoverer of 17 new genera and species of mammals. He pointed out to humanity the existence of 25 genera and species of reptiles and amphibians. He strengthened his scientific reputation with studies of previously unknown 57 genera and species of fish. His special merit is recognized for the discovery and study of the relict fish Polypterus. Along with J.V. Goethe was one of the generally recognized adherents of natural philosophy. In numerous academic discussions and publications, he defended the academic position of a natural philosopher through improving his own scientific theory. If the natural philosophical views of Goethe the naturalist embraced nature and all living things, including humans, into a single whole, then the zoologist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire promoted the unity of the animal world based on the common origin of all known species. The protracted conflict with J. Cuvier was caused by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s attempt to senior to defend his own doctrine of a single structural plan for all animals from the empirical direction in European zoology. In 1830, during eleven meetings of the French Academy of Sciences, a public debate took place between Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier. According to its results, since the autumn of 1830, the scientific community of Europe as a whole supported Cuvier’s position. Whereas, shortly before his death, Goethe published two articles in which he explained the defeat of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire by confusion in terminology. Goethe mistakenly believed that the past discussion would strengthen the position of natural philosophy. The essence of the controversy was the difference in views on the criterion of community of living forms. Cuvier believed that the leading criterion remained the commonality of functions. And, for example, not morphological unity and, especially, not community in the embryonic state. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire objected that the criterion for the community of living forms cannot be the form or function of the organism. From the publications of 1818 until the conflict in 1830, his position was based on the commonality of individual development. In total, the Soviet researcher I. E. Amlinsky in 1955 counted 9 fundamental differences in the opponents’ assessment of the problematic issues of contemporary biology. The dispute between Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier reflected the most important trends in the natural sciences and methodological contradictions of the era of the 1820s-30s, characterized by a change in terminological apparatus. Therefore, many scientists spoke out on the essence of the ceased controversy. In particular, the German evolutionary biologist and materialist E. Haeckel recognized the superiority of Cuvier's arguments, but appreciated Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's development of the ideas of the French naturalist J. Lamarck. Haeckel believed that due to the quantitative growth of experimental natural science data, the efforts of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire the Elder could not prevent the subsequent fall of natural philosophy, but defended the monistic worldview through the doctrine of the dominance of changes in the external world (atmosphere) in the transformation of animal and plant species. Revue Encyclopedique magazine about the discussion between Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier (June 1830).
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) - French zoologist, evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin; member of the Institute of France (1807), father of Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. In 1793, E. Geoffroy Saint-Ilene took the chair of vertebrate zoology at the National Museum of Natural History. In 1798-1801, he participated in the Egyptian expedition, where he collected collections of scientific importance, described 17 new genera and species of mammals, 25 genera and species of reptiles and amphibians, 57 genera and species of fish, including the relict fish Polypterus.
The joint work of J. Cuvier and E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire laid the foundation for the reform of the classification of vertebrate animals according to comparative anatomical characteristics. Based on comparative anatomical evidence of the unity of the structure of organisms within individual classes of vertebrates, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire undertook a search for the morphological unity of animals of different classes, using the method of comparative study of embryos, which later formed the basis of embryological evidence of evolution and the biogenetic law. To substantiate the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of animals in the “Philosophy of Anatomy”, he applied the synthetic morphology he developed, based on the “theory of analogues”, as well as on the principles of connections, selective affinity of organic elements and equilibrium (balancing) of organs. However, trying to fully expand the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan, the scientist made a number of mistakes and recognized the correspondence between the external chitinous skeleton of arthropods and the internal bony skeleton of vertebrates. His doctrine of a single plan for the organization of all types of the animal world, without taking into account qualitative differences, contributed to the establishment in science of the idea of unity of origin, and therefore was attacked by scientists who took the position of the immutability of species.
In 1830, a discussion took place at the Paris Academy of Sciences between Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier, who denied the existence of connections and transitions in the organization of animals of different types. Formally, Cuvier won the discussion, revealing a number of factual errors of his opponent, but Saint-Hilaire’s progressive idea of the unity of the animal world, which was the basis of the doctrine of the evolution of organic nature, was supported by many advanced thinkers and scientists (Swiss - A. Decandolle, German - I. Goethe , Russians - K.F. Roulier, N.A. Severtsov, K.A. Timiryazev). In 1831, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire made a direct defense of the idea of evolution. To substantiate his views, he drew on material from various biological sciences (embryology, paleontology, comparative anatomy, systematics). Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire created the doctrine of deformities as natural phenomena of nature, laid the foundation for experimental teratology, having obtained a number of artificial deformities in experiments on chicken embryos; created the science of animal acclimatization, developed by his son I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIR , Etienne (Etienne Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, 1772-1844), famous French. naturalist whose views on the unity of animal organization largely prepared the acceptance of evolutionary theory. During the Great French revolution, the convention established 12 departments at the Jardin des Plantes, one of which (vertebrate zoology) was occupied by the then young mineralogist J. S.-I. He became the creator of a zoological museum and menagerie. In 1798, he took part in Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, organizing extensive research there and collecting zoological and archaeological collections. In 1808 he was sent to Portugal with the mission of using for France the collections of museums and institutions in Lisbon and organized the voluntary exchange of duplicates and scientific services between the countries. In 1809 J. S.-I. received the chair of zoology and comparative anatomy at the Faeulte des Sciences. Scientific works of J. S.-I. are numerous and multifaceted. He wrote many monographs on fish, reptiles and especially mammals. Working primarily with vertebrates, J. S.-I. I was amazed at the unity of their plan. He pointed out already in his early works that in different organisms there is always a tendency for the same elements to appear, also in the same connection with each other (“the law of connections”). This “unity of plan” allowed him to draw analogies between different parts of the skeleton and other organs of vertebrates, no matter how different they were in size, shape and function from each other (the theory of analogies). If at the same time one organ or part of it increases, then another, neighboring one, contracts. With this “law of organ balance” J.S.-I. explained the existence of “vestigial” organs. An important merit of J. S.-I. it was that he took vertebrate embryos for comparison. This led him to some discoveries (the rudiments of teeth in toothless whales). Chief theoretician the work of J. S.-I. - “Philosophie anatomique”, where the goal of the study is to synthesize phenomena using the method of analogies. Using it, J. S.-I. he looked for elements of the vocal apparatus in fish, elements of gill covers in land animals, and the rudiments of teeth in birds. The law of plan unity J. S.-I. transferred to invertebrates. Thus, he equated the general arrangement of the internal organs found in vertebrates with the arrangement in invertebrates, but in reverse order. The abdomen of insects with a nerve chain running along it, in his opinion, is analogous to the back of vertebrates with a spinal cord, just as the abdominal side of vertebrates with a heart is analogous to the back of insects, where their heart is located. Thanks to J. S.-I. are methodological. studies of deformities (he was one of the founders of “teratology”), which he considered not as a “game of nature”, but as phenomena subject to the same laws as normal organisms. He considered their cause to be a delay or disturbance in the development of certain organs or parts of the body. J. S.-I., considering all organisms as variations of the same plan and function as a consequence of organization, and not as a cause, naturally had a negative attitude towards the doctrine of the immutability of species, thinking that the “environment” greatly changes the organization. However, the limits of these changes were unclear to him. It occurred to him that modern forms might have evolved in the course of centuries from fossil forms; His later works were devoted to fossil reptiles, to which he applied this idea. However, J.S.-I. did not give a general theory of evolution, and his famous dispute at the Academy of Sciences with Cuvier in 1830 was not, as is often imagined, a dispute between an evolutionist and an opponent of evolution. The debate went on a completely different plane - about whether animals are built according to the same plan and about the relative importance of synthesis and analysis in science. And if Cuvier was right in this dispute, rejecting a single structural plan for all animals and pointing out “certain erroneous generalizations by J. S.-I.,” then the latter was undoubtedly right in refuting the doctrine of the immutability of species, rejecting Cuvier’s teleological views on the organism and putting forward the importance of generalizations in biology and that comparative anatomical method, which played such a role later in the construction of evolutionary comparative anatomy. Some of the views of J. S.-I. in modern times are incorrectly attributed to Lamarck. The name Lamarckism often means the doctrine of changing species under the influence of external conditions. Kholodko, Vsky convincingly showed that this doctrine would be more correctly called “Geoffreyism”, since according to Lamarck, at least animals change not as a result of the direct influence of the environment, but under the influence of psyches, moments, aspirations etc. The main works of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire: “Philosophie anatomique” (t. I-II, P., 1818-22); “Principes de philosophie zoologique” (P., 1830). Lit.: Kholodkovsky N.; Biological essays, M.-P., 1923; Geoffroy Saint-Hi-la i r e J., Vie, travaux et doctrine scientifique d "Etien-ne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, P., 1847.Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire(fr. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, April 15, 1772 Etampes - June 19, 1844, Paris) - French naturalist, zoologist, anatomist, evolutionist, member of the French Academy of Sciences since 1807 Father of the zoologist Isidore Geoffroy.
Biography
Family and learning (1772-1791)
Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (Geoffroy is the first surname, not the middle name) was born into the family of a lawyer in the small town of Etampes. According to the testimony of the son of the naturalist Isidore, respect for scientific pursuits was maintained in the Geoffroy family. The most famous researcher of Etienne's family was his great-great-grandfather Etienne-François Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1672-1731), who studied the chemical elements known at that time and the interactions between them. Etienne's brother Marc-Antoine became an officer in the French army, died during an expedition to Egypt
He received his primary education at the Tampa College. He then studied in Paris, including under the guidance of the famous chemist and crystallographer Rene-Juste Ahuy.
In the National Museum (1792-1797)
In 1793, at the request of the anatomist Daubanton, Geoffroy headed the department of history of vertebrate zoology at the National Museum of Natural History of France, which was created on the site of the Royal Botanical Garden. In 1794 he began giving lectures on the anatomy of humans, mammals and birds. In the same year, Academician Tessier gave him the scientific works of the young naturalist from Normandy, Georges Cuvier. Geoffroy immediately invited him to Paris, where together Lamarck contributed to his appointment as a professor of comparative anatomy. Geoffroy was also one of the main founders of the zoological garden at the Museum, which he directed for more than 40 years.
Journey to Egypt (1798-1801)
In 1798-1801 he participated in the expedition to Egypt of Napoleon's corps together with the chemist Berthollet, the geometer Monge, the mathematician Fourier and many other scientists.
On May 19, 1798, Geoffroy set off for Egypt on the frigate "L" Alceste. The journey lasted 2 months, along the way they landed on the islands of Malta and Gozo, where the scientist conducted his research. On July 30, the frigate arrived in Alexandria. Geoffroy organized a research base in town of Rosetta, later moved it to Cairo. He was appointed head of the natural sciences section at the newly established Egyptian Institute. He organized trips to the pyramids, the ruins of Memphis and Heliornis. Together with other scientists, Geoffroy in the winter of 1799 was engaged in clarifying the map of Egypt.
After Napoleon left for France, the expeditions expanded. During excavations in Thebes in 1800, mummified animals were found that were deified by the ancient Egyptians.
In August 1801, the French army capitulated to the British. A clause was added to the text of the surrender about the transfer of all scientific collections to the British. But Geoffroy stated during the negotiations that he would destroy all finds, documents and scientific descriptions by the time the soldiers arrived, if he was not allowed to take the collections to France. The British were forced to agree, and in January 1802 Geoffroy delivered the exhibits to his homeland.
Academician and museum worker of Napoleon (1802-1808)
In subsequent years, Geoffroy continued to teach zoology and anatomy at the Natural History Museum and write scientific papers. As a result of the expedition, the museum's collection was significantly expanded. Mummified animals became the subject of a debate between Lamarck and Cuvier about the constancy or variability of species.
On December 17, 1804, Geoffroy marries Jeanne Angélique Louise Pauline Brière Mondetour (1785-1876), daughter of the mayor of the second arrondissement of Paris. In 1805 their son Isidore was born, and in 1809 twin girls were born.
In 1807 he was elected a full member of the French Academy of Sciences. For the rescue of Geoffroy's Egyptian collections, Saint-Hilaire was awarded the Legion of Honor. 1808 Napoleon appointed him imperial commissioner for the study of libraries and storage facilities captured by the French in Spain and Portugal. Contrary to the expectations of the authorities, Geoffroy only carried out descriptions and took away duplicates and copies of valuable documents, bringing other exhibits and manuscripts from France in return. Already in 1809 he was released from this position. After the liberation of Portugal, the British demanded that France return all the valuables taken from there, but the Lisbon Academy refused to accept the exhibits back, since they considered them the subject of an equal exchange.
Scientific research (1809-1820)
After expeditions in Spain and Portugal, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire withdrew from political events and concentrated on scientific research. In 1809, he became a professor of zoology at a faculty in Paris and studied problems of systematics and comparative anatomy. The result of the work was dozens of scientific articles and a large monograph, “Philosophy of Anatomy,” published in 1818. In these works, Geoffroy developed the idea of the unity of the structural plan of animals and homology - the deep similarity of the morphology of organs.
Discussion with Cuvier (1820-1832)
During the 1810s and 1820s, Geoffroy and Cuvier's personal relationship cooled. Cuvier was actively involved in politics and was appointed a peer of France, although he did not give up his scientific work. Geoffroy was completely immersed in research and proof of his own idea about the unity of the animal world. At the same time, both naturalists, in their own scientific publications, both noted the professionalism and achievements of each other, and anonymously criticized the positions of their colleagues.
The confrontation grew, and at the beginning of 1830 it resulted in a series of open speeches at meetings of the French Academy.
Last years (1833-1844)
Despite criticism from supporters of the deceased Cuvier, Geoffroy gained the favor of many representatives of literary bohemia. His ideas are supported by Balzac and Georges Sand.
In July 1840 he became blind. A few months later he suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed. 1841 Geoffrey left the position of professor at the Museum, which was taken by his son Isidore.
Scientific views
He opposed Cuvier's doctrine of the constancy of species, because he rightly believed that the evolution of organisms occurred due to the decisive influence of the external environment. He defended the idea of the unity of the organic world and the doctrine of a single structural plan (however, some of his ideas were erroneous) of all animals - vertebrates and invertebrates.
In memory
Honoré de Balzac dedicated his novel “Père Goriot” to Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Geoffroy's wild cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) was named after Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) was described.
One of the asteroids is also named in his honor.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire I
Isidore (12/16/1805, Paris - 11/10/1861, ibid.), French zoologist. Son of E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire a. Professor of zoology at the National Museum of Natural History (since 1841) and the University of Paris (since 1850). From 1833 a member of the Institute of France, in 1856-57 president of the Paris Academy of Sciences. J.S. adhered to his father’s views on the unity and evolution of the animal world; as a result of attacks on his father, he sought to soften his views and put forward a theory of variability limited by the limits of the species. Continuing his father’s research on deformities, he published a number of works on hermaphroditism in humans. He founded a society for the acclimatization of economically useful animals and published a work on the domestication of new species of animals, which attracted the attention of Charles Darwin and progressive Russian scientists (C. F. Roulier, N. A. Severtsov, A. P. Bogdanov, etc.). Works: Études zoologique, t. 1-2, P., 1832; Vie, travaux et doctrines scientifique d "Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, P., 1847; Acclimatation et domestication des animaux utiles, 4 ed., P., 1861; in Russian translation - General biology, vol. 1-2, M., 1860-62. Etienne (15.4.1772, Etampes, - 19.6.1844, Paris), French zoologist, evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin ,
member of the Institute of France (1807). In 1793 he took the department of vertebrate zoology at the National Museum of Natural History. In 1798-1801 he participated in an expedition to Egypt, where he collected collections of outstanding scientific significance (17 new genera and species of mammals, 25 genera and species of reptiles and amphibians, 57 genera and species of fish, including the relict fish Polypterus).
Op. in Russian trans.: Izb-r. works, M., 1970. Lit.: Amlinsky I. E., Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and his struggle against Cuvier, M., 1955; Kanaev I.I., Essays on the history of comparative anatomy before Darwin, M. - L., 1963, ch. 12. I. E. Amlinsky.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what "Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire" is in other dictionaries:
Geoffroy Saint Hilaire: Isidore Geoffroy Saint Hilaire (1805 1861) French biologist. Etienne Geoffroy Saint Hilaire (1772 1844) French zoologist ... Wikipedia
- (Geoffroy Saint Hilaire), French zoologists, father and son. Etienne (1772 1844), evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of all animals, which he explained by the commonality of their origin; criticized... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIR- GEOFFROY SAINT HILaire, Etienne (Etienne Geoffrey Saint Hilaire, 1772 1844), famous French. naturalist whose views on the unity of animal organization largely prepared the acceptance of evolutionary theory. During the Great French... ... Great Medical Encyclopedia
- (Geoffroy Saint Hilaire) Etienne (1772 1844), French zoologist. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of all animals, which he explained by the commonality of their origin; criticized the doctrine of J. Cuvier about the immutability of species. Made a start... Modern encyclopedia
- (Geoffroy Saint Hilaire) French zoologists, father and son: 1) Etienne (1772 1844), evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of all animals, which he explained by the commonality of their origin; criticized... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Geoffroy Saint Hilaire) Etienne (1772 1844), French zoologist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structure of the animal world, explaining it by the common origin of animals. He criticized J. Cuvier’s theory about... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire- Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, French. zoologists, father and son. Etienne (17721844), evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of all animals, which he explained by the commonality of their origin; ... Biographical Dictionary
Geoffroy Saint Hilaire Etienne (15.4.1772, Etampes, 19.6.1844, Paris), French zoologist, evolutionist, one of the predecessors of Charles Darwin, member of the Institute of France (1807). In 1793 he took the department of vertebrate zoology at... ...
Geoffroy Saint Hilaire Isidore (12/16/1805, Paris, 11/10/1861, ibid.), French zoologist. Son of E. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire. Professor of zoology at the National Museum of Natural History (since 1841) and the University of Paris (since 1850). WITH… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Etienne- Geoffroy Saint Hilaire Etienne (1772 1844), French zoologist. He developed the doctrine of the unity of the structural plan of all animals, which he explained by the commonality of their origin; criticized the doctrine of J. Cuvier about the immutability of species. Put... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
