author
Alfred Moquin-Tandon
1804–1863
A 19th-century French naturalist and physician, he moved easily between botany and zoology and helped document the plants and animals of his time. His career took him from university teaching in Marseille and Toulouse to leading roles in Paris’s scientific world.
1 Audiobook
Le monde de la mer
by Alfred Moquin-Tandon
About the author
Born in Montpellier on May 7, 1804, Alfred Moquin-Tandon was a French naturalist and medical doctor whose work ranged across botany, zoology, and natural history. He first taught zoology in Marseille, then became professor of botany and director of the botanical garden in Toulouse, building a reputation as a wide-ranging and energetic scholar.
His research was especially noted in botany, including studies of plant families such as the amaranths and goosefoots, but he also wrote on mollusks and the natural world more broadly. In 1850, the French government sent him to Corsica to study the island’s flora, a sign of the esteem his scientific work had earned.
Later he moved to Paris, where he became associated with some of France’s leading scientific institutions, including the Jardin des Plantes and the Académie des Sciences. He died in Paris on April 15, 1863, leaving behind the picture of a scientist whose curiosity crossed disciplinary lines with ease.