History of biology

by L. C. Miall

Characteristics of the Period.

The chief historical events are the decline of the French monarchy, the French revolution, the rise of Prussia, the expansion of England, and the American Declaration of Independence. In the history of thought we remark the introduction of the historical or comparative method, which seeks to co-ordinate facts and to trace events to their causes. Science steadily grows in influence, and freethought wins many triumphs; this is the age of Voltaire, Rousseau, and the Encyclopædists, of David Hume, of the French economists and Adam Smith.