Many individuals and institutions have contributed over the years to the making
of this book. Theodore M. Brown introduced me to Cuvier and Geoffroy
in his course on evolutionary biology over fifteen years ago, and has remained
ever since a warm friend and advisor. John C. Greene and Frederic L. Holmes,
by their strong encouragement, provided the initial impetus to undertake the
project of expanding my earlier research into a monograph. With the assistance
of a grant from the Secretary's Fund of the Smithsonian Institution, I was able
to return to France to research manuscript material. I am especially grateful to
the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine for providing the opportunity
as a Hannah post-doctoral fellow to devote a full year to research and writing,
and to Toby Gelfand at the University of Ottawa for his hospitality and friendship.
Several people have read the manuscript at various stages in its evolution
and provided valuable advice: Richard Burian, Richard Burkhardt, William
Coleman, Robert Friedel, Gerald Geison, John C. Greene, Frederic L. Holmes,
David Hull, Andrew Lugg, Dov Ospovat, Philip Pauly, and Jean Chandler
Smith. Paul Israel, my former colleague at the Edison Papers, helped with my
computer files until they could be transferred to Washington. Silvio Bedini,
Kathryn Olesko, and Pauline Mazumdar assisted with languages. Although
this book relied upon the resources of numerous libraries and the generous
assistance of their staffs, I am particularly grateful to the History of Medicine
Division of the National Library of Medicine where I was able to do most of
the final checking of sources and quotations, often during lunch break from my
work at the American Physiological Society. Jean Chandler Smith, who has
been traveling to Paris to complete a bibliography of the writings of Cuvier,
very kindly researched a few final sources and acted as intermediary to obtain
microfilm and illustrations from the Bibliotheque Centrale of the Museum
d'Histoire Naturelle. Working with Oxford University Press and Biology Editor
William F. Curtis has been a pleasure throughout. I am most thankful for
Jonathan Harrington's thorough copyediting and for his much-welcomed
expertise in anatomy and zoology. Finally, there are two people whom I have
relied upon from the beginning to the end of this project. I am greatly indebted
to Gerald Geison for providing guidance and encouragement at every step of
the way, and to my husband Robert Friedel for his patience and support, and
his critical skills and editing ability.