[4] Brisson became interested in the classification of animals and was influenced by the works of Carl Linnaeus and Jacob Theodor Klein.

[7] Although in Brisson coined a Latin name for each bird species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

[9][10][11] Linnaeus relied heavily on Brisson's work when updating his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition in 1766.

[12] Brisson abandoned zoology and in 1762 succeeded Jean-Antoine Nollet as professor of physics at the College of Navarre in Paris.

[13] A significant work involving the "specific weight of bodies" was his Pesanteur Spécifique des Corps published in 1787.