According to the naturalist Charles Bonnet (1720–1793), an “art of observing” was sorely needed to stimulate further progress in natural history. Although he never published on the subject, Bonnet proposed a prize competition on the “art of observing” to Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (the Dutch Society of Sciences) in Haarlem of which he was a member. Jean Senebier, a pastor and librarian who later became a skilled scientific observer in his own right, took part in this competition (1768) with an essay on the art of observing that influenced, embodied and codified the advanced scientific observational practices of the Genevan naturalists in the eighteenth century.

中文翻译：

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日内瓦，自然历史和观察艺术

根据博物学家查尔斯·博内特（Charles Bonnet，1720-1793 年）的说法，迫切需要一种“观察的艺术”来刺激自然历史的进一步发展。尽管他从未发表过有关该主题的文章，但 Bonnet 向哈勒姆的 Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen（荷兰科学学会）提出了一项关于“观察艺术”的竞赛，他是该竞赛的成员。让·塞尼比尔（Jean Senebier）是一位牧师和图书管理员，后来凭借自己的能力成为一名熟练的科学观察者，他参加了这场比赛（1768 年），他发表了一篇关于观察艺术的文章，该文章影响、体现和编纂了日内瓦博物学家先进的科学观察实践在十八世纪。