author

René Martin

1846–1925

A French naturalist best remembered for his close study of dragonflies, he also wrote practical guides to mammals and birds for a wider reading public. His work sits at the meeting point of careful science and a plainspoken love of the natural world.

1 Audiobook

Atlas de poche des mammifères de la France, de la Suisse romane et de la Belgique avec leur description, moeurs et organisation

Atlas de poche des mammifères de la France, de la Suisse romane et de la Belgique avec leur description, moeurs et organisation

by René Martin

About the author

Born in 1846 and active well into the early twentieth century, René Martin was a French entomologist known especially for his work on odonates, the insect order that includes dragonflies and damselflies. Sources on his life describe him as a recognized specialist in the field, and later bibliographic work counted dozens of entomological publications connected with his name.

Martin did not write only for specialists. He also published accessible natural history books, including pocket atlases on the mammals of France, French-speaking Switzerland, and Belgium, showing a talent for presenting scientific observation in a form ordinary readers could use.

He died in 1925. Even when his books were practical and compact, they reflected the habits of a patient observer, which helps explain why his work still attracts interest from historians of natural history today.