Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician. He created a way to name plants, animals, and other living things that we still use today. This system is called binomial nomenclature, and because of it, Linnaeus is often called the "father of modern taxonomy".

Linnaeus was born in a small village called Råshult in Småland, southern Sweden. He studied at Uppsala University and began teaching botany there. He traveled to many places, studying and writing about plants and animals. In 1735, he published the first edition of his important book, Systema Naturae, in the Netherlands.

Throughout his life, Linnaeus collected and classified many different species of plants, animals, and minerals. By the time he died in 1778, he was one of the most famous scientists in Europe. He is also considered one of the founders of modern ecology. In science, the letters L. are used to show that Linnaeus was the one who named a particular plant species.

Early life

Linnaeus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. His father, Nils, was a minister and loved plants. He taught Linnaeus Latin and showed him many flowers and plants in his garden. Linnaeus enjoyed learning about plants from a very young age.

When Linnaeus was seven, his father hired a tutor, but Linnaeus did not like him. At age 12, he went to school in Växjö. There, a teacher noticed his love for plants and introduced him to a doctor who taught him more about plants and medicine. By the time he was 17, Linnaeus had read many books about plants and knew a lot about them. He later studied subjects like Greek, Hebrew, and mathematics, preparing for a future in the priesthood, but his interest in plants and medicine grew stronger.

University studies

Lund

Rothman showed Linnaeus that studying plants was important. He taught Linnaeus how to group plants using a system made by Tournefort. Linnaeus also learned how plants grow and create new plants, as taught by Sébastien Vaillant. When Linnaeus was 21, he began studying at Lund University in Scania.

A professor named Kilian Stobæus helped Linnaeus by letting him stay in his home and use his many books about plants. Linnaeus spent his free time exploring the plants in the area with other students who loved nature too.

Uppsala

In 1728, Linnaeus chose to study at Uppsala University because his teacher Rothman thought it was a better place to learn about both medicine and plants. Two older teachers there were Olof Rudbeck the Younger and Lars Roberg, but they were not always giving classes themselves.

Linnaeus met another teacher, Olof Celsius, who loved plants and let Linnaeus use his big library. In 1729, Linnaeus wrote a paper about how plants create new plants, which caught the attention of Rudbeck. Soon after, Rudbeck asked Linnaeus to teach classes even though he was still a student. Many people came to Linnaeus’s classes.

Linnaeus also began to think Tournefort's way of grouping plants was not the best. He planned to make his own system, grouping plants by parts of their flowers. He started writing books that would later become famous, including Genera Plantarum and Critica Botanica. He also wrote about the plants in the Uppsala Botanical Garden.

Expedition to Lapland

Main articles: Expedition to Lapland and Flora Lapponica

Carl Linnaeus wanted to explore Lapland to find new plants, animals, and minerals. He was also interested in learning about the Sami people, who herded reindeer across the tundras. In 1732, he received support for his journey from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala.

Linnaeus began his trip from Uppsala in May 1732. He walked and rode, carrying his journal and materials to press plants. He discovered many new plants, including one he loved called twinflower. Over six months, he travelled more than 2,000 kilometres, studying plants, birds, and rocks. He wrote about his findings in a book called Flora Lapponica, which helped develop his system for naming living things. During this trip, he had an important idea about how to classify animals by studying their teeth and teats.

Years in the Dutch Republic (1735–38)

In 1735, Carl Linnaeus traveled to the Dutch Republic to study medicine at the University of Harderwijk. He also tutored a friend, Claes Sohlberg, in exchange for money.

Linnaeus met many scientists during his time there. One of his first meetings was with Johan Frederik Gronovius, who helped publish Linnaeus’s important work, Systema Naturae, in 1735. This book introduced a new way to name plants and animals.

Later, Linnaeus worked with George Clifford, who owned a large garden. Linnaeus became the garden’s curator and wrote a book called Hortus Cliffortianus about the plants there. He also visited scientists in England and Oxford, sharing his ideas about naming living things.

Return to Sweden

When Carl Linnaeus returned to Sweden in 1738, he moved to Falun and later Stockholm to work as a doctor. There, he met Count Carl Gustav Tessin, who helped him find a job. Linnaeus also helped start the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and became its first leader.

Linnaeus married Sara Elisabeth Moræa in 1739, and they had several children together. In 1741, he became a professor at Uppsala University, where he taught medicine, botany, and natural history. He traveled with students to islands like Öland and Gotland to study plants and animals for medicine. He also wrote many books about his discoveries, such as Flora Suecica and Fauna Suecica.

In 1750, Linnaeus became a leader at Uppsala University and taught many students who traveled the world to collect plants. He wrote important books like Philosophia Botanica in 1751 and Species Plantarum in 1753, which helped create the way we name plants today. In 1761, he was given a noble title and became known as Carl von Linné. He also started a garden at his home, Hammarby, to grow special plants.

Final years

Carl Linnaeus continued working even after being relieved of his duties at the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in 1763. In 1769, he was honored by being elected to the American Philosophical Society for his important work. By late 1772, he stepped down from his position as rector at Uppsala University because his health was getting worse.

Linnaeus faced many health problems in his last years. He suffered from a disease called Uppsala fever in 1764 but survived thanks to a friend named Rosén. In 1773, he developed sciatica, and in 1774, he had a stroke that partly paralysed him. Another stroke in 1776 left him unable to use his right side and caused him to lose his memory, though he could still appreciate his own writings.

In December 1777, Linnaeus had another stroke that greatly weakened him, and it eventually led to his passing on 10 January 1778 in Hammarby. Though he wished to be buried there, he was laid to rest in Uppsala Cathedral on 22 January.

After his death, his library and collections went to his wife Sara and their children. A famous botanist named Joseph Banks wanted to buy the collection, but Linnaeus’s son Carl refused and moved it to Uppsala. When Carl died in 1783, Sara inherited the collection. She tried to sell it to Banks, but he was no longer interested. Instead, a young medical student named James Edward Smith purchased the entire collection, which included many plants, insects, shells, letters, and books. Smith later founded the Linnean Society of London.

Linnaeus’s family line ended with his son Carl, who never married. His other son, Johannes, died at the age of 3. Today, there are over two hundred descendants of Linnaeus through his two daughters.

Apostles

Main article: Apostles of Linnaeus

During his time as a teacher at Uppsala University, Carl Linnaeus had many devoted students. He called 17 of the best and most eager ones "apostles." These students traveled to many places around the world to collect plants, animals, and minerals. Linnaeus often helped them by giving them advice on what to look for and sometimes even helping them get money or a place to travel. These students followed Linnaeus's way of organizing living things, which helped spread his ideas even though Linnaeus himself didn’t travel far after returning from Holland.

One of the first apostles, Christopher Tärnström, traveled to China in 1746 but became sick and could not continue. Another apostle, Pehr Kalm, traveled to North America and brought back many plants and seeds for Linnaeus to study. Later, Daniel Solander and Anders Sparrman traveled with explorer James Cook to places like Oceania and South America. Carl Peter Thunberg traveled for nine years, including a visit to Japan, where he collected plants even though it was difficult because most foreigners were not allowed to enter the country.

Major publications

Systema Naturae

Main article: Systema Naturae

The first version of Systema Naturae was printed in 1735. It was a small book with only twelve pages. By the time the 10th version came out in 1758, it had classified 4,400 kinds of animals and 7,700 kinds of plants. People all over the world sent specimens to Linnaeus for him to include. When he began working on the 12th version, Linnaeus used index cards to help keep track of everything.

After Linnaeus grew unwell in the early 1770s, the work on Systema Naturae split into two paths. Another scientist, Johan Andreas Murray, published a part called Systema Vegetabilium in 1774, calling it the 13th edition. Later, between 1788 and 1793, a full 13th edition was published by Johann Friedrich Gmelin. It was through Systema Vegetabilium that Linnaeus’s ideas became well known in England after it was translated into English as A System of Vegetables between 1783 and 1785.

Species Plantarum

Main article: Species Plantarum

Species Plantarum was first published in 1753 in two volumes. It is very important because it is where the way we name plants today began.

Genera Plantarum

Main article: Genera Plantarum

Genera Plantarum was first published in 1737. It described groups of plants. The most important version was the fifth one, published in 1754. In it, Linnaeus divided plants into 24 groups. One group, Cryptogamia, included plants that don’t show their flowers, like algae, fungi, mosses, liverworts, and ferns.

Philosophia Botanica

Main article: Philosophia Botanica

Philosophia Botanica came out in 1751. It summed up Linnaeus’s ideas about how to group and name plants. It built on his earlier works, like Fundamenta Botanica (1736) and Critica Botanica (1737). Other books he wrote as part of this plan include Classes Plantarum and Bibliotheca Botanica. All of these books were printed in Holland, along with Genera Plantarum (1737) and Systema Naturae (1735). The Philosophia was also printed in Stockholm at the same time.

Collections

Main article: Linnaean Herbarium

By the end of his life, Carl Linnaeus had built one of Sweden’s best collections of natural history objects in Uppsala. He also created a museum for Uppsala University, receiving gifts from many people such as Carl Gyllenborg, crown-prince Adolf Fredrik, Erik Petreus, Claes Grill, Magnus Lagerström, and Jonas Alströmer. Linnaeus saw nature as perfectly organized and once said the earth was like a great museum showing the creator’s wonderful works.

After Linnaeus passed away, a student named James Edward Smith bought all of Linnaeus’s collections and moved them to London. However, some fish specimens were left behind and later lost. Over time, the collection in London was changed by scientists, who added new items and moved things around.

Some of the items Linnaeus studied came from Queen Lovisa Ulrika and were later given to the museum in Uppsala by her grandson, King Gustav IV Adolf. Other parts of the collection ended up at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.

System of taxonomy

Main article: Linnaean taxonomy

Linnaeus created a system for naming living things that is still used today. He introduced a way to give each living thing a two-part name, which helps scientists talk about them clearly. He also used symbols to show the male and female of each species.

Linnaeus organized living things into groups, like putting them in boxes inside bigger boxes. He started with three big groups called kingdoms. These were split into smaller groups, and so on, until he reached the individual types of plants and animals. His system was based on what they looked like, and it helped people see how different living things are related.

Main article: Human taxonomy § History

Linnaeus was one of the first to put humans in the same group as apes. He noticed that humans and apes look very similar and share many features. This idea was new and surprised many people, but Linnaeus believed it was correct. Later, he changed the name of this group and gave humans the name Homo sapiens. He also described other types of humans, but these were based on old stories and turned out to be wrong.

Influences and economic beliefs

Carl Linnaeus was inspired by ideas from the Enlightenment and followed a school of economic thought called Cameralism. He believed that the government should play a big role in the economy. Linnaeus supported things like taxes, rules on trade, and special money given to help businesses grow. He also thought there should be limits on wages and ways to control how much of certain goods could be sold.

Commemoration

Main article: Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus

People have celebrated the anniversaries of Linnaeus's birth, especially every 100 years, with big events. Linnaeus has been featured on Swedish postage stamps and banknotes. Statues of Linnaeus can be found in many countries. The Linnean Society of London gives out the Linnean Medal each year for excellent work in botany or zoology. In 2010, two universities in Sweden, Växjö University and Kalmar College, joined to form Linnaeus University. Some plants, like the twinflower genus Linnaea, are named after him.

Commentary

Many famous people praised Carl Linnaeus. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said he was the greatest man on Earth. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe felt strongly influenced by him, comparing him to William Shakespeare and Baruch Spinoza. Swedish author August Strindberg thought Linnaeus was really a poet who became a scientist.

In later years, some people have talked about how Linnaeus grouped humans into different categories. Some think his way of grouping people helped create unfair ideas, while others think he just described things in a way that seemed stereotypical but didn’t mean one group was better than another.

Standard author abbreviation

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to show this person wrote about a botanical name when we talk about it.

Selected publications by Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus wrote many important books about plants and animals. One of his most famous works is called Systema Naturae, which helped scientists give every living thing a special name. He also wrote books like Species Plantarum, which focused on plants, and Systema Naturae again later with more details. These books are still studied today by people who learn about nature.