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

Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at Fontenay-le-Comte in the Vendée department of western France. His parents wished him to take ecclesiastic orders, but in 1747, he abandoned his studies, and from 1749,

Brisson became interested in the classification of animals and was influenced by the works of Carl Linnaeus and Jacob Theodor Klein. For each species Brisson clearly indicated whether he had examined a specimen or whether he was relying on descriptions by other authors. However, Brisson also introduced names for genera and these are accepted by the ICZN. Linnaeus relied heavily on Brisson's work when updating his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition in 1766. Linnaeus added 386 bird species of which 240 were based exclusively on Brisson. Brisson abandoned zoology and in 1762 succeeded Jean-Antoine Nollet as professor of physics at the College of Navarre in Paris.

He married Marie-Denise Foliot de Foucherolles on 24 April 1775. They had three children.

He died on 23 June 1806 at Magny-les-Hameaux near Versailles.

Publications

  • With uncoloured engraved illustrations by François-Nicolas Martinet.
  • Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
  • Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
  • 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.
  • Anfangsgründe der Naturgeschichte und Chemie der Mineralien. Mainz 1799.
  • Instruction sur les nouveaux poids et mesures. Paris 1799.
  • 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.

References

  • Gallica has a free digital download of Brisson, Mathurin-Jacques Ornithologia sive Synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates Leiden (1760–1763) in Microforme The French word for Search is Recherche.
  • Dictionnaire raisonné de physique, 2nd éd, Planches – Linda Hall Library