{"product_id":"the-language-of-nature-in-buffons-histoire-naturelle-9781786941398","title":"The Language of Nature in Buffon's Histoire","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing from literary studies, philosophy, and the history of science, in this interdisciplinary study Hanna Roman argues that the language of Buffon’s \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/i\u003e (1749-1788) could not be separated from the science it conveyed; the language communicated nature’s vital order, form and movement. In the \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/i\u003e, the ability of language to embody and communicate the living essence of nature grew increasingly poignant as Buffon established his hypothesis that the Earth, initially a molten ball of fire, was dying as it slowly became colder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe author highlights Buffon’s \u003ci\u003eÉpoques de la nature\u003c\/i\u003e (1778) in which he implied that to save nature from cold death, people must learn to create actual heat according to the model provided by his lyrical, dynamic language, the energy of which would transform into re-warming a cooling globe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this way, Roman argues that Buffon’s literary simulacrum of nature taught his readers not only about the history of nature and its laws, but also how to interact with nature differently, transferring to them the skills necessary to modify the surrounding world in order to better fit the desires and dreams of humanity. A new world could be more than imagined—it could be engineered through language.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'...this book is a valuable addition to the scholarship on the close links between literary and scientific knowledge in the Enlightenment.'\u003cbr\u003eElizabeth Wallmann, \u003ci\u003eFrench Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Proposing a book about the monumental and eclectic thirty-six volumes of the \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/i\u003e requires from the offset a lot of courage, especially when the author proposes, in this ambitious interdisciplinary study [...] to revisit the whole series. [...] Hanna Roman masterfully builds on recent top scholars' achievements [...] The style is clear, [including] the flawless translations from French to English. [...] This book, anchored by deep and sound sources, will be considered as another foundation stone for the Buffonian critics as it iconically demonstrates the fundamental connection between written language and knowledge.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSwann Paradis, \u003ci\u003eIsis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An accomplished original tribute to Buffon’s geniuses: scientific and literary.' \u003cbr\u003e Swann Paradis, \u003cem\u003eIsis: A Journal of the History of Science Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntroduction: Enlightenment natural history and literary invention\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStyle: combining rhetoric and knowledge\u003cbr\u003eHarmonizing world and word\u003cbr\u003eNatural history: between physics and history\u003cbr\u003eThe literary practice of natural history\u003cbr\u003eSummary of chapters\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e1. Inventing natural language: the harmonization of mind and world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mathematical rules and natural laws\u003cbr\u003e Buffon and natural law: relativizing perception\u003cbr\u003e Inventing and intervening: Montesquieu and the natural laws of history\u003cbr\u003e Scaling the levels of perception: the evolving relationship with nature in the \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. Generating heat: the energy of natural language\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Introducing heat: \u003ci\u003eDe l’art d’écrire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Heat: the material interface with nature\u003cbr\u003e Between body and mind: the spirit of language\u003cbr\u003e The energy of the natural historical text\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. Writing nature: the foundations of natural history\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The ‘Discours sur le style’: translating the movement of nature\u003cbr\u003e The \u003ci\u003emise-en-scène\u003c\/i\u003e of style in the \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/i\u003e, 1749\u003cbr\u003e From style to history: reading temporality into nature’s story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. Hypothesis and the energy of invention\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hypothesis and the invention of a verisimilar world\u003cbr\u003e Hypothesis and heat: inventing the hidden mechanism of nature\u003cbr\u003e Making heat real: the hypothesis in the ‘Epoques de la nature’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e5. Reinventing nature’s heat\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Buffon’s theorization of heat\u003cbr\u003e The natural history of human beings: a story of inventing the temperate\u003cbr\u003e Writing the future with heat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eConclusion: preserving the heat of the \u003ci\u003eHistoire naturelle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Rethinking Buffon’s intellectual legacy\u003cbr\u003e Condorcet’s \u003ci\u003eEloge de M. de Buffon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Saving style for posterity\u003cbr\u003e The literary experiment\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Liverpool University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51042491040087,"sku":"9781786941398","price":98.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781786941398.jpg?v=1750954363","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-language-of-nature-in-buffons-histoire-naturelle-9781786941398","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}