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Carolus LinnaeusSwedish naturalist, creator of the system of flora and fauna
Date of Birth: 23.05.1707
Country:  Sweden |
Content:
Biography of Carl Linnaeus
Early Life and EducationCarl Linnaeus was a Swedish naturalist, renowned as the "father of modern taxonomy" and the creator of the modern biological nomenclature. He was born on May 23, 1707, in Råshult, in the province of Småland, Sweden. Although his parents hoped he would become a clergyman, Linnaeus was fascinated by natural history, particularly botany, from a young age. Encouraged by a local physician, who saw his talent, Linnaeus chose to pursue a career in medicine, as botany was considered part of pharmacology at the time.
In 1727, Linnaeus enrolled at Lund University and the following year transferred to Uppsala University, which had better programs in botany and medicine. In Uppsala, he lived and worked with Olof Celsius, a theologian and amateur botanist involved in the preparation of the book "Biblical Botany," a list of plants mentioned in the Bible. As a New Year's gift to Celsius in 1729, Linnaeus wrote an essay titled "Introduction to the Nuptials of Plants," in which he poetically described their reproductive process. This work not only impressed Celsius but also caught the attention of professors and students at the university. It laid the foundation for Linnaeus' future focus on classifying plants based on their reproductive organs. In 1731, after defending his dissertation, Linnaeus became an assistant to Professor of Botany Olof Rudbeck. The following year, he embarked on a three-month journey through Lapland, collecting plant specimens. His work, subsidized by the Uppsala Scientific Society, was published as a brief report titled "Flora Lapponica." A more detailed account of his botanical discoveries in Lapland, known as "Lachesis Lapponica," was published in Latin after his death.
Work in Holland and Scientific Contributions
From 1733 to 1734, Linnaeus lectured and conducted scientific research at Uppsala University while writing several books and articles. However, in order to continue his medical career, tradition dictated that he obtain a foreign academic degree. In 1735, he enrolled at the University of Harderwijk in the Netherlands, where he soon earned a doctorate in medicine. In the Netherlands, Linnaeus became close with renowned Leiden physician George Clifford, who recommended him to the mayor of Amsterdam. Clifford, an avid horticulturist, had amassed an impressive collection of exotic plants and appointed Linnaeus as his personal physician, tasking him with identifying and classifying his specimens. The result was the outstanding treatise "Hortus Cliffortianus," published in 1737. During his time in the Netherlands, Linnaeus released the first editions of many of his works, including "Systema Naturae," "Bibliotheca Botanica," and "Fundamenta Botanica" in 1736, "Critica Botanica," "Genera Plantarum," "Flora Lapponica," and "Hortus Cliffortianus" in 1737, and "Classes Plantarum," "Corollarium Generum," and "Methodus Sexualis" in 1738. He also edited his friend Peter Artedi's unfinished book on fish, "Ichthyologia." Linnaeus' botanical works, particularly "Genera Plantarum," formed the basis of modern plant taxonomy. Using his new classification system, which he called the "sexual system," Linnaeus focused on the reproductive organs of plants, namely stamens and pistils. Though his classification was somewhat artificial, it was much simpler than existing systems and quickly gained widespread acceptance. His rules were so straightforward and clear that they seemed like laws of nature, and Linnaeus himself regarded them as such. However, his views on plant reproduction, while not original, faced criticism from some who accused him of immorality or excessive anthropomorphism.
Later Life and Legacy
Linnaeus' most ambitious work, "Systema Naturae," was an attempt to categorize all of nature, including animals, plants, and minerals, into classes, orders, genera, and species, as well as establish rules for their identification. The first edition of this monumental work, roughly a dozen printed pages, was published in 1735 as a preliminary outline. Revised and expanded editions were released 12 times during Linnaeus' lifetime, with several reprints after his death. In 1738, Linnaeus visited botanical centers in England at the request of Clifford. By this time, he had gained international recognition among naturalists and received invitations to work in the Netherlands and Germany. However, Linnaeus chose to return to Sweden. In 1739, he opened a medical practice in Stockholm while continuing his studies in natural history. In 1741, he was appointed a professor of medicine at Uppsala University and, in 1742, also became a professor of botany there. In the following years, he primarily taught and wrote scientific papers but also embarked on several scientific expeditions to poorly explored regions of Sweden, publishing reports on each. Linnaeus' enthusiasm, reputation, and ability to inspire others to seek new discoveries attracted countless followers. He amassed a vast herbarium and plant collection, with collectors from around the world sending him specimens of unknown living forms, which he described in his books. In 1745, Linnaeus published "Flora Suecica," followed by "Fauna Suecica" in 1746 and "Hortus Upsaliensis" in 1748. New editions of "Systema Naturae" continued to be published in Sweden and abroad. Some of the most significant editions, particularly the sixth (1748), tenth (1758), and twelfth (1766), substantially expanded upon previous versions. The famous tenth and twelfth editions became multi-volume encyclopedias, not only attempting to classify natural objects but also providing brief descriptions, or distinctive features, of all known animals, plants, and minerals. Each species entry included information on its geographical distribution, habitat, behavior, and variations. The twelfth edition, in particular, became the most comprehensive, but the tenth edition holds the most importance in modern zoological nomenclature. This is because in this edition, Linnaeus first introduced double (binomial) names for all known animal species. In 1753, he completed his monumental work "Species Plantarum," which consisted of descriptions and binomial names for all known plant species, establishing the foundation for modern botanical nomenclature. In his book "Philosophia Botanica," published in 1751, Linnaeus succinctly outlined the principles he followed in studying plants. The German writer, thinker, and naturalist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe declared, "Apart from Shakespeare and Spinoza, Linnaeus has had the greatest influence on me." Carl Linnaeus passed away in Uppsala on January 10, 1778.
