Buffon was born to an aristrocratic family in Montbard, France. His affluent background allowed him to travel extensively and pursue a number of fields before he developed a passionate interest in natural history. After studying at the Jesuit College in Dijon, France, Buffon obtained a law degree in 1726. The intellectual life of Dijon was active but not oriented toward science, so Buffon went off to Angers, a city in northwestern France, to study medicine, mathematics, botany, and astronomy. The threat of a duel forced him to leave Angers in 1730, but he seized the opportunity to travel through France, England, and Italy. While he was traveling, Buffon's mother died and left him a sizable fortune.

Buffon had been so impressed with the upsurge of science in England that he dedicated the next couple of years to scientific endeavors. His first project, at the request of the French navy, was...