Mathurin Jacques Brisson

Mathurin Jacques Brisson (30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.

Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history, his published works in this department including Le Règne animal (1756) and Ornithologie (1760). In 1759, he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

After the death of R. A. F. Reaumur, whose assistant he was, he abandoned natural history, and was appointed professor of natural philosophy at Navarre and later at Paris. His most important work in this department was his Pesanteur Spécifique des Corps (1787), but he published several other books on physical subjects which were in considerable repute for a time.

He died at Croissy near Paris.

Publications

 * Regnum animale in classes IX distributum sive Synopsis methodica. Haak, Paris, Leiden 1756–62.
 * Ornithologia sive Synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates. Bauche, Paris, Leiden 1760–63.
 * Supplementum Ornithologiæ sive Citationes, descriptionesque antea omissæ & species de novo adjectæ, ad suaquaque genera redactæ. Paris 1760.
 * Lettres de deux Espagnols sur les manufactures. Vergera 1769.
 * Dictionnaire raisonné de physique. Thou, Paris 1781–1800.
 * Observations sur les nouvelles découvertes aërostatiques. Lamy, Paris 1784.
 * Pesanteur spécifique des corps. Paris 1787.
 * Traité élémentaire ou Principes de physique. Moutard & Bossange, Paris 1789–1803.
 * Trattato elementare ovvero Principi di fisica. Grazioli, Florenz 1791.
 * Die spezifischen Gewichte der Körper. Leipzig 1795.
 * Suplemento al Diccionario universal de física. Cano, Madrid 1796–1802.
 * Principes élémentaires de l'histoire naturelle et chymique des substances minérales. Paris 1797.
 * Anfangsgründe der Naturgeschichte und Chemie der Mineralien. Mainz 1799.
 * Instruction sur les nouveaux poids et mesures. Paris 1799.
 * Elémens ou Principes physico-chymiques. Bossange, Paris 1800.
 * Elements of the natural history and chymical analysis of mineral substances. Ritchie, Walker, Vernor & Hood, London 1800.
 * Tratado elemental ó principios de física. Madrid 1803/04.