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Here, for the first time in English, is Georges Cuvier’s extraordinary “History of the Natural Sciences from Its Origin to the Present Day.” Based on a series of public lectures presented by Cuvier from 1829 to 1832, this fourth of a five-volume series, translated from the original French and heavily annotated with commentary, is a detailed chronological survey of the natural sciences in the eighteenth century. It is truly astonishing in its detail and scope. Cuvier was fluent in many languages, English, German, Spanish, and certainly Latin, in addition to French. He was therefore well prepared to investigate and interpret firsthand the scientific literature of Europe as a whole. The work is an affirmation of Cuvier’s vast encyclopedic knowledge, his complete command of the scientific and historical literature, and his incomparable memory. This history is remarkable also for providing in one place a large set of useful references to a vast ancient literature that is not easily found anywhere else. This huge body of information provides us furthermore with unique insight into Cuvier’s concept of the natural sciences, and to the vast breadth and progress of this human endeavor. With this work, Cuvier fills an important gap in philosophical thought between the time of Carl Linnaeus and Charles Darwin. « L’histoire des sciences naturelles depuis leur origine jusqu’à nos jours » est présentée ici pour la première fois en édition bilingue. Ce volume, amplement annoté et commenté, est le quatrième d’une série de cinq tomes regroupant les cours professés par Georges Cuvier de 1829 à 1832. Cette étude de grande envergure couvre de manière chronologique ­l’histoire des sciences naturelles au XVIIIe siècle. Le lecteur a ainsi accès à l’atelier historique de Georges Cuvier. Loin d’être une activité lui paraissant annexe au regard de ses travaux d’anatomiste, Cuvier y consacra un temps important, consultant de très nombreux ouvrages en de multiples langues (anglais, allemand,…

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