In the opening volumes of the "Histoire naturelle" Buffon questioned the usefulness of mathematics, criticized Carl Linnaeus's taxonomical approach to natural history, outlined a history of the Earth with little relation to the Biblical account, and proposed a theory of reproduction which ran counter to existing ideas.
The early volumes were condemned by the Faculty of Theology at the Sorbonne. Buffon published a retraction, but he continued publishing the offending volumes without any change.
Buffon noted that despite similar environments, different regions of the world have distinct plants and animals. This observation, later known as Buffon's Law, may be the first principle of biogeography.
Buffon understood the idea of common descent, and discussed it a number of times. This does not mean he believed in it. Probably he did not, but he discussed it fairly openly on a number of occasions. Interpreting his ideas is not simple, for he returned to topics many times in the course of his work.
In volume 14 he argued that all the world's quadrupeds had developed from an original set of just thirty-eight quadrupeds. On this basis, he is sometimes considered a "transformist" and a precursor of Darwin.
In "Les époques de la nature" (1778) Buffon discussed the origins of the solar system, speculating that the planets had been created by a comet's collision with the sun.
He also suggested that the earth originated much earlier than the 4004 BC of Archbishop James Ussher. Basing his figures on the cooling rate of iron tested at his Laboratory le Petit Fontenet at Montbard, he calculated that the age of the earth was 75,000 years. Once again, his ideas were condemned by the Sorbonne, and again he issued a retraction to avoid further problems.
Charles Darwin wrote in his preliminary historical sketch added to the third edition of "On the Origin of Species": "Passing over... Buffon, with whose writings I am not familiar." Then, from the fourth edition onwards, he amended this to say that "the first author who in modern times has treated it [evolution] in a scientific spirit was Buffon. But as his opinions fluctuated greatly at different periods, and as he does not enter on the causes or means of the transformation of species, I need not here enter on details."
The paradox of Buffon is that, according to Ernst Mayr:
He was not an evolutionist, yet he was the father of evolutionism. He was the first person to discuss a large number of evolutionary problems, problems that before Buffon had not been raised by anybody... he brought them to the attention of the scientific world.
Except for Aristotle and Darwin, no other student of organisms [whole animals and plants] has had as far-reaching an influence.
He brought the idea of evolution into the realm of science.
He developed a concept of the "unity of type," a precursor of comparative anatomy.
More than anyone else, he was responsible for the acceptance of a long-time scale for the history of the earth.
He was the founder of biogeography.
And yet, he hindered evolution by his frequent endorsement of the immutability of species. He provided a criterion of species, fertility among members of a species, that was thought impregnable.
Malky Mackay
Malcolm George "Malky" Mackay (born 19 February 1972, in Bellshill) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Cardiff City. Mackay began his playing career in Scottish football, with Queen's Park and Celtic. He joined English side Norwich City in 1998. He also played in the Premier League with Norwich, West Ham and finally Watford. He retired as a player in 2008.
The Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American Indie pop band. Their songs include "This Place Is A Prison" from their album "Give Up".
Toryglen
Toryglen is a small district in Glasgow, Scotland. There are about 7,000 people who live in the district.
Jim Kerr of Simple Minds grew up this area.
Nitride
In chemistry, a nitride is a compound of nitrogen with a less electronegative element, attached together in a specific way. Nitrides are a large class of compounds with a wide range of properties and applications.
Most of the names for nitrides follow a simple pattern: the name of the element attached to the nitrogen, then "nitride". So, GaN would be gallium nitride.
There are some exceptions, however, for the compounds that has had a usual name before. For example, NH is not called "hydrogen nitride", even if it is the most simple of this class of molecules, but it is still commonly called ammonia.
Rail gauge
Rail gauge is the distance from the inside of one rail on a railroad track to the inside of the other.
Most tracks use a standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft, 8 1/2 in). Wider gauges are called broad gauge (1676mm), smaller gauges are called narrow gauge(762mm or 610mm).
Broad gauge may be used where the track needs to have big things moving on it. Narrow gauge, such as metre gauge (1000mm), is used to build railroads for less money, because the smaller track costs less. Places where different gauges meet are called break of gauge.
Skittles
Skittles are a type of sugar candy printed with the letter "S". They were created in 1974 by the Wrigley Company in England.
Skittles came to America in 1979. The Skittles' slogan "taste the rainbow" came from New York by a company called D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.
Skittles is a type of chewy fruit-flavored candy. They have a hard outside with a chewy inside and an "s" on one side. Skittles come in many flavors. The original flavors were lime, lemon, grape, orange, and cherry.
Moon River
Moon River is a popular song. Audrey Hepburn sang it in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Henry Mancini wrote the song's music. Johnny Mercer wrote the words. Many other people have sung this song. It was one of Andy Williams' most famous songs.
Isleworth Ait
Isleworth Ait means "small island". It is in the TW7 area of London between Kew Gardens and Syon Park. It is a 10 acre island densely packed fauna and flora. It has many rare beetles.
Hurricane Anita
Hurricane Anita was the only major hurricane of the inactive 1977 Atlantic hurricane season. It struck Mexico as a category 5. Though it struck as a category 5 no one knows the damage. Anita killed 11 people in Mexico.
A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 16. After it moved westward for about a week, it started growing some clouds. It changed the way it was moving to the northwest on August 27 while it was over Cuba, but all clouds were over the Bahamas and Florida. The tropical wave soon crossed Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico. While it entered the Gulf of Mexico, an anticyclone made conditions good for a tropical cyclone to form. The tropical wave also moved slow when it entered the Gulf of Mexico, making it easier for it to develop. By August 29, the tropical wave was good enough to be upgraded to Tropical Depression One.
Tropical Depression One went back on a westward path than a ridge forced it. Conditions remained good and the tropical depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Anita later on August 29. Water temperatures were warm, this allow Tropical Storm Anita to become Hurricane Anita during August 30. Hurricane Anita looked like it would strike Texas at first, but other weather systems did not allow it to do so. Anita began to quickly strengthen, it had become a category 3 hurricane on September 1. By the next day, Hurricane Anita had reached its highest winds as a category 5 hurricane, while not far from the coast of Mexico.
Hurricane Anita stayed as a category 5 hurricane as it made landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on September 2. Anita weakened fast over land, weakening to a tropical storm over central Mexico later that day. It also weakened to a tropical depression before it reached the Pacific coast of Mexico.
The name Anita was retired. It was not replaced with anything specific because the tropical cyclone names change in 1979.
Oldsmobile Cutlass