author
A. de (Armand de) Quatrefages
1810–1892
A French naturalist who moved from medicine into zoology and anthropology, he became one of the best-known scientific writers of 19th-century France. His work ranges from studies of marine invertebrates to big questions about human origins and diversity.
1 Audiobook
The human species
by A. de (Armand de) Quatrefages
About the author
Born in 1810 in the Gard region of France, Armand de Quatrefages studied medicine at Strasbourg before turning more fully toward natural history. After work in Toulouse and then Paris, he built a reputation as a scientist whose interests crossed several fields rather than staying in just one.
Quatrefages is best remembered as a zoologist and anthropologist. He taught in Paris and later held a chair connected with anthropology at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, helping shape the field in France during the second half of the 19th century. He also wrote extensively for a broader reading public, which helped make scientific debates more accessible.
His books and essays often explored the human species, race, and evolution, topics that were central to the science of his time. Some of his conclusions belong very much to the 19th century, but his work remains historically important for readers interested in how natural history and anthropology developed in that period. He died in Paris in 1892.