Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his

ennoblement Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and reg ...

in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are give ...

, and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who formalised

binomial nomenclature In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name compos ...

, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761

, as . Linnaeus was born in Råshult, the countryside of

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized f ...

, in southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, while publishing several volumes. He was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe at the time of his death. Philosopher

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

sent him the message: "Tell him I know no greater man on earth."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

wrote: "With the exception of Shakespeare and

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...

, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." Swedish author

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist." Linnaeus has been called ' (Prince of Botanists) and "The Pliny of the North". Broberg (2006), p. 7. He is also considered one of the founders of modern

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

. In botany and zoology, the abbreviation L. is used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for a species' name. In older publications, the abbreviation "Linn." is found. Linnaeus's remains constitute the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

for the species ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture ...

'' following the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

, since the sole specimen that he is known to have examined was himself.ICZN Chapter 16, Article 72.4.1.1
– "For a nominal species or subspecies established before 2000, any evidence, published or unpublished, may be taken into account to determine what specimens constitute the type series." and Article 73.1.2 – "If the nominal species-group taxon is based on a single specimen, either so stated or implied in the original publication, that specimen is the holotype fixed by monotypy (see Recommendation 73F). If the taxon was established before 2000 evidence derived from outside the work itself may be taken into account rt. 72.4.1.1to help identify the specimen."

Early life

Childhood

Linnaeus was born in the village of Råshult in

, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child of Nicolaus (Nils) Ingemarsson (who later adopted the family name Linnaeus) and Christina Brodersonia. His siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus (who would eventually succeed their father as rector of Stenbrohult and write a manual on

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (insect), Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees ar ...

), Stöver (1794), p. 8. Broberg (2006), p. 10. and Emerentia Linnæa. His father taught him Latin as a small child. One of a long line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur

, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister, and the

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

of the small village of Stenbrohult in Småland. Christina was the daughter of the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius. Fries (2011), p. 376. A year after Linnaeus's birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

from the curate's house. Quammen (2007), p. 1. Even in his early years, Linnaeus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he was upset, he was given a flower, which immediately calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden and often showed flowers to Linnaeus and told him their names. Soon Linnaeus was given his own patch of earth where he could grow plants. Blunt (2004), p. 15. Carl's father was the first in his ancestry to adopt a permanent surname. Before that, ancestors had used the

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

naming system of Scandinavian countries: his father was named Ingemarsson after his father Ingemar Bengtsson. When Nils was admitted to the

University of Lund , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion linden tree (or lime tree), ' in Swedish, that grew on the family homestead. Blunt (2004), p. 12. This name was spelled with the æ ligature. When Carl was born, he was named Carl Linnæus, with his father's family name. The son also always spelled it with the æ ligature, both in handwritten documents and in publications. Blunt (2004), p. 13. Carl's patronymic would have been Nilsson, as in Carl Nilsson Linnæus.

Early education

Linnaeus's father began teaching him basic Latin, religion, and geography at an early age. When Linnaeus was seven, Nils decided to hire a tutor for him. The parents picked Johan Telander, a son of a local

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

. Linnaeus did not like him, writing in his autobiography that Telander "was better calculated to extinguish a child's talents than develop them". Blunt (2004), pp. 15–16. Two years after his tutoring had begun, he was sent to the Lower

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

in 1717. Stöver (1794), p. 5. Linnaeus rarely studied, often going to the countryside to look for plants. At some point, his father went to visit him and, after hearing critical assessements by his preceptors, he decided to put the youth as an apprentice to some honest cobbler. He reached the last year of the Lower School when he was fifteen, which was taught by the headmaster, Daniel Lannerus, who was interested in botany. Lannerus noticed Linnaeus's interest in botany and gave him the run of his garden. He also introduced him to Johan Rothman, the state doctor of Småland and a teacher at Katedralskolan (a gymnasium) in Växjö. Also a botanist, Rothman broadened Linnaeus's interest in botany and helped him develop an interest in medicine. Blunt (2004), p. 16. Stöver (1794), pp. 5–6. By the age of 17, Linnaeus had become well acquainted with the existing botanical literature. He remarks in his journal that he "read day and night, knowing like the back of my hand, Arvidh Månsson's Rydaholm Book of Herbs, Tillandz's Flora Åboensis, Palmberg's Serta Florea Suecana, Bromelii's Chloros Gothica and Rudbeckii's Hortus Upsaliensis". Linnaeus entered the Växjö Katedralskola in 1724, where he studied mainly

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, a curriculum designed for boys preparing for the priesthood. Stöver (1794), p. 6. Blunt (2004), pp. 16–17. In the last year at the gymnasium, Linnaeus's father visited to ask the professors how his son's studies were progressing; to his dismay, most said that the boy would never become a scholar. Rothman believed otherwise, suggesting Linnaeus could have a future in medicine. The doctor offered to have Linnaeus live with his family in Växjö and to teach him

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

and botany. Nils accepted this offer. Blunt (2004), pp. 17–18. Stöver (1794), pp. 8–11.

University studies

Lund

Rothman showed Linnaeus that botany was a serious subject. He taught Linnaeus to classify plants according to Tournefort's system. Linnaeus was also taught about the sexual reproduction of plants, according to

Sébastien Vaillant Sébastien Vaillant (May 26, 1669 – May 20, 1722) was French botanist who was born at Vigny in present-day Val d'Oise. Early years Vaillant went to school at the age of four and by the age of five, he was collecting plants and transplantin ...

. In 1727, Linnaeus, age 21, enrolled in

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

. Blunt (2004), p. 18. Stöver (1794), p. 13. He was registered as ', the Latin form of his full name, which he also used later for his Latin publications. Professor Kilian Stobæus, natural scientist, physician and historian, offered Linnaeus tutoring and lodging, as well as the use of his library, which included many books about botany. He also gave the student free admission to his lectures. Blunt (2004), pp. 21–22. Stöver (1794), p. 15. In his spare time, Linnaeus explored the flora of Skåne, together with students sharing the same interests. Stöver (1794), pp. 14–15.

Uppsala

In August 1728, Linnaeus decided to attend

on the advice of Rothman, who believed it would be a better choice if Linnaeus wanted to study both medicine and botany. Rothman based this recommendation on the two professors who taught at the medical faculty at Uppsala:

Olof Rudbeck the Younger Olof Rudbeck the Younger or Olaus Rudbeckius d.y. (15 March 1660 – 23 March 1740) was a Swedish explorer, scientist, botanist, ornithologist and rector of Uppsala University. Biography Olof Rudbeck was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of Ola ...

and

Lars Roberg Lars Roberg (4 January 1664 – 21 May 1742) was a Swedish physician and natural science researcher. He served as a professor of anatomy and medicine at Uppsala University. Biography Roberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of ...

. Although Rudbeck and Roberg had undoubtedly been good professors, by then they were older and not so interested in teaching. Rudbeck no longer gave public lectures, and had others stand in for him. The botany, zoology, pharmacology and anatomy lectures were not in their best state. Blunt (2004), pp. 23–25. In Uppsala, Linnaeus met a new benefactor,

Olof Celsius Olof Celsius (the elder) (19 July 1670 – 24 June 1756) was a Swedish botanist, philologist and clergyman, He was a professor at Uppsala University, Sweden. Celsius was a mentor of the botanist and scientist Carl Linnaeus. Celsius wrote his most ...

, who was a professor of theology and an amateur botanist. Blunt (2004), pp. 31–32. He received Linnaeus into his home and allowed him use of his library, which was one of the richest botanical libraries in Sweden. Stöver (1794), pp. 19–20. In 1729, Linnaeus wrote a thesis, ' on plant sexual reproduction. This attracted the attention of Rudbeck; in May 1730, he selected Linnaeus to give lectures at the University although the young man was only a second-year student. His lectures were popular, and Linnaeus often addressed an audience of 300 people. Blunt (2004), pp. 32–34. In June, Linnaeus moved from Celsius's house to Rudbeck's to become the tutor of the three youngest of his 24 children. His friendship with Celsius did not wane and they continued their botanical expeditions. Blunt (2004), pp. 34–37. Over that winter, Linnaeus began to doubt Tournefort's system of classification and decided to create one of his own. His plan was to divide the plants by the number of

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the fila ...

s and

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils ...

s. He began writing several books, which would later result in, for example, ' and '. He also produced a book on the plants grown in the Uppsala Botanical Garden, '. Blunt (2001), pp. 36–37. Rudbeck's former assistant, Nils Rosén, returned to the University in March 1731 with a degree in medicine. Rosén started giving anatomy lectures and tried to take over Linnaeus's botany lectures, but Rudbeck prevented that. Until December, Rosén gave Linnaeus private tutoring in medicine. In December, Linnaeus had a "disagreement" with Rudbeck's wife and had to move out of his mentor's house; his relationship with Rudbeck did not appear to suffer. That Christmas, Linnaeus returned home to Stenbrohult to visit his parents for the first time in about three years. His mother had disapproved of his failing to become a priest, but she was pleased to learn he was teaching at the University. Anderson (1997), p. 40.

Expedition to Lapland

Carolus Linnaeus by Hendrik Hollander 1853-2

During a visit with his parents, Linnaeus told them about his plan to travel to Lapland; Rudbeck had made the journey in 1695, but the detailed results of his exploration were lost in a fire seven years afterwards. Linnaeus's hope was to find new plants, animals and possibly valuable minerals. He was also curious about the customs of the native

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

, reindeer-herding nomads who wandered Scandinavia's vast tundras. In April 1732, Linnaeus was awarded a grant from the

Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala), is the oldest of the royal academies in Sweden, having been founded in 1710. The society has, by royal decree of 1906, 50 Swedish fellows and 100 foreign. ...

for his journey. Anderson (1997), pp. 42–43. Blunt (2001), p. 38. Linnaeus began his expedition from Uppsala on 12 May 1732, just before he turned 25. He travelled on foot and horse, bringing with him his journal, botanical and

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

manuscripts and sheets of paper for pressing plants. Near

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swed ...

he found great quantities of ''Campanula serpyllifolia'', later known as ''

Linnaea borealis ''Linnaea borealis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae (the honeysuckle family). Until 2013, it was the only species in the genus '' Linnaea''. It is a boreal to subarctic woodland subshrub, commonly known as twinflowe ...

'', the twinflower that would become his favourite. Blunt (2001), pp. 42–43. He sometimes dismounted on the way to examine a flower or rock Anderson (1997), pp. 43–44. and was particularly interested in

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...

, a common and economically important animal in Lapland. Anderson (1997), p. 46. Linnaeus travelled clockwise around the coast of the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast ( We ...

, making major inland incursions from

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Um ...

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

and

Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...

. He returned from his six-month-long, over expedition in October, having gathered and observed many plants, birds and rocks. Blunt (2001), pp. 63–65. Blunt (2004), pp. 39–42. Broberg (2006), p. 29. Although Lapland was a region with limited

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

, Linnaeus described about 100 previously unidentified plants. These became the basis of his book '. Quammen (2007), p. 2. Stöver (1794), pp. 38–39. However, on the expedition to Lapland, Linnaeus used Latin names to describe organisms because he had not yet developed the binomial system. In ' Linnaeus's ideas about

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally ag ...

and

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

were first used in a practical way, making this the first proto-modern

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

. The account covered 534 species, used the Linnaean classification system and included, for the described species, geographical distribution and taxonomic notes. It was

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candoll ...

who attributed Linnaeus with ' as the first example in the botanical genre of

writing. Botanical historian E. L. Greene described ' as "the most classic and delightful" of Linnaeus's works. Frodin (2001), p. 27. It was also during this expedition that Linnaeus had a flash of insight regarding the classification of mammals. Upon observing the lower jawbone of a horse at the side of a road he was travelling, Linnaeus remarked: "If I only knew how many teeth and of what kind every animal had, how many teats and where they were placed, I should perhaps be able to work out a perfectly natural system for the arrangement of all quadrupeds." Blunt (2001), p. 54. In 1734, Linnaeus led a small group of students to

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

. Funded by the Governor of Dalarna, the expedition was to catalogue known natural resources and discover new ones, but also to gather intelligence on Norwegian mining activities at

Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The min ...

Years in the Dutch Republic (1735–38)

Doctorate

His relations with Nils Rosén having worsened, Linnaeus accepted an invitation from Claes Sohlberg, son of a mining inspector, to spend the Christmas holiday in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

, where Linnaeus was permitted to visit the mines. Blunt (2001), p. 74. In April 1735, at the suggestion of Sohlberg's father, Linnaeus and Sohlberg set out for the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

, where Linnaeus intended to study medicine at the

University of Harderwijk The University of Harderwijk (1648–1811), also named the ''Guelders Academy'' ( la, Academia Gelro-Zutphanica), was located in the city Harderwijk, in the Republic of the United Provinces (now: the Netherlands). It was founded by the province ...

Stöver (1794), p. 71. while tutoring Sohlberg in exchange for an annual salary. At the time, it was common for Swedes to pursue doctoral degrees in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, then a highly revered place to study natural history. Blunt (2001), pp. 78–79. On the way, the pair stopped in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, where they met the mayor, who proudly showed them a supposed wonder of nature in his possession: the

taxidermied Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

remains of a seven-headed hydra. Linnaeus quickly discovered the specimen was a

fake Fake may refer to: * Deception, an act or a statement intended to deceive ** Charlatan, a person who practices deception to obtain money or other advantages ** Counterfeit, a reproduction of an item, intended to deceive ** Cover-up, an attempt to ...

, cobbled together from the jaws and paws of weasels and the skins of snakes. The provenance of the hydra suggested to Linnaeus that it had been manufactured by monks to represent the

Beast of Revelation The Beast ( grc-x-koine, Θηρίον, ) may refer to one of two beasts described in the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 13:1-10, the first beast (interpreted as the Antichrist) rises "out of the sea" and is given authority and power by the ...

. Even at the risk of incurring the mayor's wrath, Linnaeus made his observations public, dashing the mayor's dreams of selling the hydra for an enormous sum. Linnaeus and Sohlberg were forced to flee from Hamburg. Anderson (1997), pp. 60–61. Blunt (2004), p. 90. Linnaeus began working towards his degree as soon as he reached

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The so ...

, a university known for awarding degrees in as little as a week. He submitted a dissertation, written back in Sweden, entitled ''Dissertatio medica inauguralis in qua exhibetur hypothesis nova de febrium intermittentium causa'',That is, ''Inaugural thesis in medicine, in which a new hypothesis on the cause of intermittent fevers is presented'' in which he laid out his hypothesis that

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

arose only in areas with clay-rich soils. Although he failed to identify the true source of disease transmission, (i.e., the ''

Anopheles ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus ''Plasmodium'', which ...

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

), he did correctly predict that ''

Artemisia annua ''Artemisia annua'', also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort, annual mugwort or annual wormwood (), is a common type of wormwood native to temperate Asia, but naturalized in many countries including scattered parts of North Am ...

'' ( wormwood) would become a source of

antimalarial Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young ...

medications. Within two weeks he had completed his oral and practical examinations and was awarded a doctoral degree. Blunt (2001)
p. 94
That summer Linnaeus reunited with

Peter Artedi Peter Artedi or Petrus Arctaedius (27 February 170528 September 1735) was a Swedish naturalist who is known as the "father of ichthyology". Artedi was born in Anundsjö in the province of Ångermanland. Intending to become a clergyman, he wen ...

, a friend from Uppsala with whom he had once made a pact that should either of the two predecease the other, the survivor would finish the decedent's work. Ten weeks later, Artedi drowned in the

canals of Amsterdam Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than of ''grachten'' (canals), about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals (Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht), dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form ...

, leaving behind an unfinished manuscript on the classification of fish. Anderson (1997), p. 66. Blunt (2004), pp. 98–100.

Publishing of '

One of the first scientists Linnaeus met in the Netherlands was Johan Frederik Gronovius, to whom Linnaeus showed one of the several manuscripts he had brought with him from Sweden. The manuscript described a new system for classifying plants. When Gronovius saw it, he was very impressed, and offered to help pay for the printing. With an additional monetary contribution by the Scottish doctor Isaac Lawson, the manuscript was published as ' (1735). Blunt (2001), p. 98. Anderson (1997), pp. 62–63. Linnaeus became acquainted with one of the most respected physicians and botanists in the Netherlands,

Herman Boerhaave Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...

, who tried to convince Linnaeus to make a career there. Boerhaave offered him a journey to South Africa and America, but Linnaeus declined, stating he would not stand the heat. Instead, Boerhaave convinced Linnaeus that he should visit the botanist

Johannes Burman Johannes Burman (26 April 1707 in Amsterdam – 20 February 1780), was a Dutch botanist and physician. Burman specialized in plants from Ceylon, Amboina and Cape Colony. The name ''Pelargonium'' was introduced by Johannes Burman. Johannes ...

. After his visit, Burman, impressed with his guest's knowledge, decided Linnaeus should stay with him during the winter. During his stay, Linnaeus helped Burman with his '. Burman also helped Linnaeus with the books on which he was working: ' and '. Blunt (2004), pp. 100–102.

George Clifford, Philip Miller, and Johann Jacob Dillenius

In August 1735, during Linnaeus's stay with Burman, he met George Clifford III, a director of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

and the owner of a rich botanical garden at the estate of Hartekamp in

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands. History Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking the ...

. Clifford was very impressed with Linnaeus's ability to classify plants, and invited him to become his physician and superintendent of his garden. Linnaeus had already agreed to stay with Burman over the winter, and could thus not accept immediately. However, Clifford offered to compensate Burman by offering him a copy of Sir Hans Sloane's ''Natural History of Jamaica'', a rare book, if he let Linnaeus stay with him, and Burman accepted. Anderson (1997), p. 64. Stöver (1794), pp. 81–82. On 24 September 1735, Linnaeus moved to Hartekamp to become personal physician to Clifford, and curator of Clifford's herbarium. He was paid 1,000

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...

s a year, with free board and lodging. Though the agreement was only for a winter of that year, Linnaeus practically stayed there until 1738. It was here that he wrote a book ''Hortus Cliffortianus'', in the preface of which he described his experience as "the happiest time of my life". (A portion of Hartekamp was declared as public garden in April 1956 by the Heemstede local authority, and was named "Linnaeushof". It eventually became, as it is claimed, the biggest playground in Europe.) In July 1736, Linnaeus travelled to England, at Clifford's expense. Blunt (2001), pp. 106–107. He went to London to visit Sir Hans Sloane, a collector of natural history, and to see his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, Stöver (1794), p. 89. as well as to visit the

Chelsea Physic Garden The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the sc ...

and its keeper,

Philip Miller Philip Miller FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular ''The Gardeners Dicti ...

. He taught Miller about his new system of subdividing plants, as described in '. Miller was in fact reluctant to use the new

, preferring the classifications of

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Lif ...

and

John Ray John Ray FRS (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was a Christian English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after ...

at first. Linnaeus, nevertheless, applauded Miller's ''Gardeners Dictionary'', The conservative Scot actually retained in his dictionary a number of pre-Linnaean binomial signifiers discarded by Linnaeus but which have been retained by modern botanists. He only fully changed to the Linnaean system in the edition of ''

The Gardeners Dictionary ''The Gardeners Dictionary'' was a widely cited reference series, written by Philip Miller (1691–1771), which tended to focus on plants cultivated in England. Eight editions of the series were published in his lifetime. After his death, it was ...

'' of 1768. Miller ultimately was impressed, and from then on started to arrange the garden according to Linnaeus's system. Stöver (1794), pp. 89–90. Linnaeus also travelled to Oxford University to visit the botanist Johann Jacob Dillenius. He failed to make Dillenius publicly fully accept his new classification system, though the two men remained in correspondence for many years afterwards. Linnaeus dedicated his ''Critica Botanica'' to him, as "''opus botanicum quo absolutius mundus non-vidit''". Linnaeus would later name a genus of tropical tree Dillenia in his honour. He then returned to Hartekamp, bringing with him many specimens of rare plants. Stöver (1794), pp. 90–93. The next year, 1737, he published ', in which he described 935

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

of plants, and shortly thereafter he supplemented it with ', with another sixty (''sexaginta'') genera. Stöver (1794), p. 95. His work at Hartekamp led to another book, ', a catalogue of the botanical holdings in the herbarium and botanical garden of Hartekamp. He wrote it in nine months (completed in July 1737), but it was not published until 1738. It contains the first use of the name ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' () is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mo ...

'', which Linnaeus used to describe a genus of pitcher plants."If this is not Helen's '' Nepenthes'', it certainly will be for all botanists. What botanist would not be filled with admiration if, after a long journey, he should find this wonderful plant. In his astonishment past ills would be forgotten when beholding this admirable work of the Creator!" (translated from Latin by

Harry Veitch Sir Harry James Veitch (24 June 1840 – 6 July 1924) was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London. He was instrumental in establ ...

) Linnaeus stayed with Clifford at Hartekamp until 18 October 1737 (new style), when he left the house to return to Sweden. Illness and the kindness of Dutch friends obliged him to stay some months longer in Holland. In May 1738, he set out for Sweden again. On the way home, he stayed in Paris for about a month, visiting botanists such as

Antoine de Jussieu Antoine de Jussieu (6 July 168622 April 1758) was a French naturalist, botanist, and physician. Jussieu was born in Lyon, the son of Christophe de Jussieu (or Dejussieu), an apothecary of some repute, who published a ''Nouveau traité de la ...

. After his return, Linnaeus never left Sweden again. Blunt (2001), p. 123. Koerner (1999), p. 56.

Return to Sweden

When Linnaeus returned to Sweden on 28 June 1738, he went to

, where he entered into an engagement to Sara Elisabeth Moræa. Three months later, he moved to Stockholm to find employment as a physician, and thus to make it possible to support a family. Stöver (1794), p. 141. Once again, Linnaeus found a patron; he became acquainted with Count Carl Gustav Tessin, who helped him get work as a physician at the Admiralty. Stöver (1794), pp. 146–147. Koerner (1999), p. 16. During this time in Stockholm, Linnaeus helped found the

Royal Swedish Academy of Science The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

; he became the first

Praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...

of the academy by drawing of lots. Koerner (1999), pp. 103–105. Because his finances had improved and were now sufficient to support a family, he received permission to marry his fiancée, Sara Elisabeth Moræa. Their wedding was held 26 June 1739. Seventeen months later, Sara gave birth to their first son,

Carl Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...

. Two years later, a daughter, Elisabeth Christina, was born, and the subsequent year Sara gave birth to Sara Magdalena, who died when 15 days old. Sara and Linnaeus would later have four other children: Lovisa, , Johannes and Sophia. Stöver (1794), p. 382. CarlvonLinne house

In May 1741, Linnaeus was appointed Professor of Medicine at Uppsala University, first with responsibility for medicine-related matters. Soon, he changed place with the other Professor of Medicine, Nils Rosén, and thus was responsible for the Botanical Garden (which he would thoroughly reconstruct and expand), botany and natural history, instead. In October that same year, his wife and nine-month-old son followed him to live in Uppsala. Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), pp. 49–50.

Öland and Gotland

Ten days after he was appointed Professor, he undertook an expedition to the island provinces of

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...

and

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

with six students from the university to look for plants useful in medicine. First, they travelled to Öland and stayed there until 21 June, when they sailed to Visby in Gotland. Linnaeus and the students stayed on Gotland for about a month, and then returned to Uppsala. During this expedition, they found 100 previously unrecorded plants. The observations from the expedition were later published in ', written in Swedish. Like ', it contained both zoological and botanical observations, as well as observations concerning the culture in Öland and Gotland. Koerner (1999), p. 115. Blunt (2004), pp. 137–142. During the summer of 1745, Linnaeus published two more books: ' and '. ' was a strictly botanical book, while ' was

zoological Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...

. Stöver (1794), pp. 117–118.

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germ ...

had created the temperature scale named after him in 1742. Celsius's scale was inverted compared to today, the boiling point at 0 °C and freezing point at 100 °C. In 1745, Linnaeus inverted the scale to its present standard. Koerner (1999), p. 204.

Västergötland

In the summer of 1746, Linnaeus was once again commissioned by the Government to carry out an expedition, this time to the Swedish province of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

. He set out from Uppsala on 12 June and returned on 11 August. On the expedition his primary companion was Erik Gustaf Lidbeck, a student who had accompanied him on his previous journey. Linnaeus described his findings from the expedition in the book ', published the next year. Blunt (2004), p. 159. After he returned from the journey, the Government decided Linnaeus should take on another expedition to the southernmost province

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

. This journey was postponed, as Linnaeus felt too busy. In 1747, Linnaeus was given the title

archiater An archiater ( grc, ἀρχίατρος) was a chief physician of a monarch, who typically retained several. At the Roman imperial court, their chief held the high rank and specific title of '' Comes archiatrorum''. The term has also been used of c ...

, or chief physician, by the Swedish king

Adolf Frederick Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

—a mark of great respect. Blunt (2004), p. 165. The same year he was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Stöver (1794), p. 167.

Scania

In the spring of 1749, Linnaeus could finally journey to

, again commissioned by the Government. With him he brought his student, Olof Söderberg. On the way to Scania, he made his last visit to his brothers and sisters in Stenbrohult since his father had died the previous year. The expedition was similar to the previous journeys in most aspects, but this time he was also ordered to find the best place to grow

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

and

Swedish whitebeam ''Scandosorbus intermedia'', the Swedish whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam found in southern Sweden, with scattered occurrences in easternmost Denmark (Bornholm), the far southwest of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and northern Poland.Rushforth, K. ...

trees; these trees were used by the military to make rifles. While there, they also visited the Ramlösa mineral spa, where he remarked on the quality of its ferruginous water. The journey was successful, and Linnaeus's observations were published the next year in '. Blunt (2004), pp. 198–205. Koerner (1999), p. 116.

Rector of Uppsala University

In 1750, Linnaeus became rector of Uppsala University, starting a period where natural sciences were esteemed. Perhaps the most important contribution he made during his time at Uppsala was to teach; many of his students travelled to various places in the world to collect botanical samples. Linnaeus called the best of these students his "apostles". Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), pp. 56–57. His lectures were normally very popular and were often held in the Botanical Garden. He tried to teach the students to think for themselves and not trust anybody, not even him. Even more popular than the lectures were the botanical excursions made every Saturday during summer, where Linnaeus and his students explored the flora and fauna in the vicinity of Uppsala. Blunt (2004), pp. 173–174.

''Philosophia Botanica''

Linnaeus published ''

Philosophia Botanica ''Philosophia Botanica'' ("Botanical Philosophy", ed. 1, Stockholm & Amsterdam, 1751.) was published by the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) who greatly influenced the development of botanical taxonomy and systematics ...

'' in 1751. The book contained a complete survey of the taxonomy system he had been using in his earlier works. It also contained information of how to keep a journal on travels and how to maintain a botanical garden. Blunt (2004), p. 221.

''Nutrix Noverca''

During Linnaeus's time it was normal for upper class women to have

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...

s for their babies. Linnaeus joined an ongoing campaign to end this practice in Sweden and promote breast-feeding by mothers. In 1752 Linnaeus published a thesis along with Frederick Lindberg, a physician student, based on their experiences. In the tradition of the period, this dissertation was essentially an idea of the presiding reviewer (''prases'') expounded upon by the student. Linnaeus's dissertation was translated into French by J. E. Gilibert in 1770 as ''La Nourrice marâtre, ou Dissertation sur les suites funestes du nourrisage mercénaire''. Linnaeus suggested that children might absorb the personality of their wet nurse through the milk. He admired the child care practices of the Lapps and pointed out how healthy their babies were compared to those of Europeans who employed wet nurses. He compared the behaviour of wild animals and pointed out how none of them denied their newborns their breastmilk. It is thought that his activism played a role in his choice of the term ''Mammalia'' for the class of organisms.

''Species Plantarum''

Linnaeus published ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'', the work which is now internationally accepted as the starting point of modern

botanical nomenclature Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this ...

, in 1753. Stace (1991)
p. 24
The first volume was issued on 24 May, the second volume followed on 16 August of the same year. The book contained 1,200 pages and was published in two volumes; it described over 7,300 species. Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), p. 47. Stöver (1794), pp. 198–199. The same year the king dubbed him knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

, the first civilian in Sweden to become a knight in this order. He was then seldom seen not wearing the order's insignia. Blunt (2004), p. 166.

Ennoblement

Linnaeus felt Uppsala was too noisy and unhealthy, so he bought two farms in 1758: Hammarby and Sävja. The next year, he bought a neighbouring farm, Edeby. He spent the summers with his family at Hammarby; initially it only had a small one-storey house, but in 1762 a new, larger main building was added. Blunt (2004), p. 219. In Hammarby, Linnaeus made a garden where he could grow plants that could not be grown in the Botanical Garden in Uppsala. He began constructing a museum on a hill behind Hammarby in 1766, where he moved his library and collection of plants. A fire that destroyed about one third of Uppsala and had threatened his residence there necessitated the move. Blunt (2004), pp. 220–224. Since the initial release of ' in 1735, the book had been expanded and reprinted several times; the tenth edition was released in 1758. This edition established itself as the starting point for

zoological nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the In ...

, the equivalent of '. Blunt (2004), p. 6. The Swedish King Adolf Frederick granted Linnaeus

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

in 1757, but he was not

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

until 1761. With his ennoblement, he took the name Carl von Linné (Latinised as '), 'Linné' being a shortened and

gallicised Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by mor ...

version of 'Linnæus', and the German

nobiliary particle A nobiliary particle is used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it is the same as a regular pr ...

von The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...

' signifying his ennoblement. The noble family's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

prominently features a

twinflower ''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species f ...

, one of Linnaeus's favourite plants; it was given the scientific name ''Linnaea borealis'' in his honour by Gronovius. The shield in the coat of arms is divided into thirds: red, black and green for the three kingdoms of nature (animal, mineral and vegetable) in Linnaean classification; in the centre is an egg "to denote Nature, which is continued and perpetuated ''in ovo''." At the bottom is a phrase in Latin, borrowed from the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of ...

, which reads "''Famam extendere factis''": we extend our fame by our deeds. Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), p. 62. Blunt (2004), p. 199. Blunt (2004), pp. 229–230. Linnaeus inscribed this personal motto in books that were given to him by friends. After his ennoblement, Linnaeus continued teaching and writing. His reputation had spread over the world, and he corresponded with many different people. For example,

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

sent him seeds from her country.Uppsala University, Linné Online
English language version He also corresponded with

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the " Linnaeus of the A ...

, "the Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire", who was a doctor and a botanist in

Idrija Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; german: (Ober)idria, it, Idria) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. It is located in the traditional region of Inner Carniola and is in the Gorizia Statisti ...

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A ...

(nowadays

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

). Scopoli communicated all of his research, findings, and descriptions (for example of the

olm The olm or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and br ...

and the

dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

, two little animals hitherto unknown to Linnaeus). Linnaeus greatly respected Scopoli and showed great interest in his work. He named a solanaceous genus, ''

Scopolia ''Scopolia'' is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe and Asia. The genus is named after Giovanni Scopoli (1723–88), a Tyrolean naturalist. The genus has a disjunct distribution, with two reco ...

'', the source of

scopolamine Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a natural or synthetically produced tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic drug that is formally used as a medication for treating motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomi ...

, after him, but because of the great distance between them, they never met.

Final years

Linnaeus was relieved of his duties in the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in 1763, but continued his work there as usual for more than ten years after. In 1769 he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

for his work. He stepped down as rector at Uppsala University in December 1772, mostly due to his declining health. Blunt (2004), p. 245. Linnaeus's last years were troubled by illness. He had had a disease called the Uppsala fever in 1764, but survived due to the care of Rosén. He developed

sciatica Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities like heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often described ...

in 1773, and the next year, he had a stroke which partially paralysed him. Blunt (2004), p. 232. He had a second stroke in 1776, losing the use of his right side and leaving him bereft of his memory; while still able to admire his own writings, he could not recognise himself as their author. Stöver (1794), pp. 243–245. Broberg (2006), p. 42. In December 1777, he had another stroke which greatly weakened him, and eventually led to his death on 10 January 1778 in Hammarby. Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), p. 63. Despite his desire to be buried in Hammarby, he was buried in

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran t ...

on 22 January. Quammen (2007), p. 4. Anderson (1997), pp. 104–106. His library and collections were left to his widow Sara and their children.

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

, an eminent botanist, wished to purchase the collection, but his son Carl refused the offer and instead moved the collection to Uppsala. In 1783 Carl died and Sara inherited the collection, having outlived both her husband and son. She tried to sell it to Banks, but he was no longer interested; instead an acquaintance of his agreed to buy the collection. The acquaintance was a 24-year-old medical student, James Edward Smith, who bought the whole collection: 14,000 plants, 3,198 insects, 1,564 shells, about 3,000 letters and 1,600 books. Smith founded the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...

five years later. Blunt (2001), pp. 238–240. The von Linné name ended with his son Carl, who never married. His other son, Johannes, had died aged 3. There are over two hundred descendants of Linnaeus through two of his daughters.

Apostles

Pehr Forsskål portrait (cropped and color balanced)

During Linnaeus's time as Professor and Rector of Uppsala University, he taught many devoted students, 17 of whom he called "apostles". They were the most promising, most committed students, and all of them made botanical expeditions to various places in the world, often with his help. The amount of this help varied; sometimes he used his influence as Rector to grant his apostles a scholarship or a place on an expedition. Blunt (2004), pp. 189–190. To most of the apostles he gave instructions of what to look for on their journeys. Abroad, the apostles collected and organised new plants, animals and minerals according to Linnaeus's system. Most of them also gave some of their collection to Linnaeus when their journey was finished. Broberg (2006), pp. 37–39. Thanks to these students, the Linnaean system of taxonomy spread through the world without Linnaeus ever having to travel outside Sweden after his return from Holland. Anderson (1997), pp. 92–93. The British botanist

William T. Stearn William Thomas Stearn (16 April 1911 – 9 May 2001) was a British botanist. Born in Cambridge in 1911, he was largely self-educated, and developed an early interest in books and natural history. His initial work experience was at a ...

notes, without Linnaeus's new system, it would not have been possible for the apostles to collect and organise so many new specimens. Blunt (2004), pp. 184–185. Many of the apostles died during their expeditions.

Early expeditions

Christopher Tärnström, the first apostle and a 43-year-old pastor with a wife and children, made his journey in 1746. He boarded a

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...

ship headed for China. Tärnström never reached his destination, dying of a tropical fever on

Côn Sơn Island Côn Sơn ( ), also known as Côn Lôn is the largest island of the Côn Đảo archipelago, off the coast of southern Vietnam.Kelley, p 116 Other names Its French variant Grande-Condore was well-known during the times of French Indochina. Ma ...

the same year. Tärnström's widow blamed Linnaeus for making her children fatherless, causing Linnaeus to prefer sending out younger, unmarried students after Tärnström. Blunt (2004), pp. 185–186. Six other apostles later died on their expeditions, including

Pehr Forsskål Pehr is a predominantly Swedish language masculine give name and may refer to: *Pehr Adlerfelt (1680–1743), Swedish Army colonel * Pehr von Afzelius (1760–1843), Swedish medical doctor and professor *Pehr Victor Edman (1916—1977), Swedish bi ...

and

Pehr Löfling Pehr Löfling (31 January 1729 – 22 February 1756) was a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography Löfling was born in Tolvfors Bruk, Gävle, Sweden. He studied at the University of Uppsala where he attended courses taug ...

. Two years after Tärnström's expedition, Finnish-born

Pehr Kalm Pehr Kalm (6 March 1716 – 16 November 1779), also known as Peter Kalm, was a Swedish explorer, botanist, naturalist, and agricultural economist. He was one of the most important apostles of Carl Linnaeus. In 1747, he was commissioned by th ...

set out as the second apostle to North America. There he spent two-and-a-half years studying the flora and fauna of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Canada. Linnaeus was overjoyed when Kalm returned, bringing back with him many pressed flowers and seeds. At least 90 of the 700 North American species described in ''Species Plantarum'' had been brought back by Kalm. Anderson (1997), pp. 93–94.

Cook expeditions and Japan

Mortimer - Captain James Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, Lord Sandwich, Dr Daniel Solander and Dr John Hawkesworth

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil. Biography ...

was living in Linnaeus's house during his time as a student in Uppsala. Linnaeus was very fond of him, promising Solander his eldest daughter's hand in marriage. On Linnaeus's recommendation, Solander travelled to England in 1760, where he met the English botanist

. With Banks, Solander joined

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

on his expedition to Oceania on the '' Endeavour'' in 1768–71. Anderson (1997), p. 96. Blunt (2004), pp. 191–192. Solander was not the only apostle to journey with James Cook;

Anders Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748, Tensta, Uppland – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography left, Miniature of Sparrman at the time of his travels with James Cook. By unknown art ...

followed on the '' Resolution'' in 1772–75 bound for, among other places, Oceania and South America. Sparrman made many other expeditions, one of them to South Africa. Blunt (2004), pp. 192–193. Perhaps the most famous and successful apostle was

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala U ...

, who embarked on a nine-year expedition in 1770. He stayed in South Africa for three years, then travelled to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. All foreigners in Japan were forced to stay on the island of

Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, i ...

outside

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, so it was thus hard for Thunberg to study the flora. He did, however, manage to persuade some of the translators to bring him different plants, and he also found plants in the gardens of Dejima. He returned to Sweden in 1779, one year after Linnaeus's death. Blunt (2004), pp. 193–194.

Major publications

''Systema Naturae''

The first edition of ' was printed in the Netherlands in 1735. It was a twelve-page work. Linnaeus (1735) By the time it reached its

10th edition 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

in 1758, it classified 4,400 species of animals and 7,700 species of plants. People from all over the world sent their specimens to Linnaeus to be included. By the time he started work on the 12th edition, Linnaeus needed a new invention—the

index card An index card (or record card in British English and system cards in Australian English) consists of card stock (heavy paper) cut to a standard size, used for recording and storing small amounts of discrete data. A collection of such cards e ...

—to track classifications. In ''Systema Naturae'', the unwieldy names mostly used at the time, such as "'", were supplemented with concise and now familiar "binomials", composed of the generic name, followed by a specific epithet—in the case given, ''

Physalis angulata ''Physalis angulata'' is an erect, herbaceous, annual plant belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae. It reproduces by seed. Its leaves are dark green and roughly oval, often with tooth shapes around the edge. The flowers are five-sided an ...

''. These binomials could serve as a label to refer to the species. Higher taxa were constructed and arranged in a simple and orderly manner. Although the system, now known as

, was partially developed by the Bauhin brothers (see

Gaspard Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin ( la, Casparus Bauhinus; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to t ...

and Johann Bauhin) almost 200 years earlier, Linnaeus was the first to use it consistently throughout the work, including in monospecific genera, and may be said to have popularised it within the scientific community. After the decline in Linnaeus's health in the early 1770s, publication of editions of ''Systema Naturae'' went in two different directions. Another Swedish scientist,

Johan Andreas Murray Johan Andreas (Anders) Murray (27 January 1740 – 22 May 1791) was a Swedish physician of German descent and botanist, who published a major work on plant-derived medicines. Biography Johan Anders Murray was born in Stockholm on 27 January 1740, ...

issued the ''Regnum Vegetabile'' section separately in 1774 as the ''Systema Vegetabilium'', rather confusingly labelled the 13th edition. Meanwhile, a 13th edition of the entire ''Systema'' appeared in parts between 1788 and 1793 under the editorship of

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich Gmelin Ferdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , docto ...

. It was through the ''Systema Vegetabilium'' that Linnaeus's work became widely known in England, following its translation from the Latin by the

Lichfield Botanical Society Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

as ''A System of Vegetables'' (1783–1785).

''Orbis eruditi judicium de Caroli Linnaei MD scriptis''

('Opinion of the learned world on the writings of Carl Linnaeus, Doctor') Published in 1740, this small octavo-sized pamphlet was presented to the State Library of New South Wales by the Linnean Society of NSW in 2018. This is considered among the rarest of all the writings of Linnaeus, and crucial to his career, securing him his appointment to a professorship of medicine at Uppsala University. From this position he laid the groundwork for his radical new theory of classifying and naming organisms for which he was considered the founder of modern taxonomy.

'

' (or, more fully, ') was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today.

'

' was first published in 1737, delineating plant genera. Around 10 editions were published, not all of them by Linnaeus himself; the most important is the 1754 fifth edition. Stace (1991)
p. 22
In it Linnaeus divided the plant Kingdom into 24 classes. One, Cryptogamia, included all the plants with concealed reproductive parts (algae, fungi, mosses and liverworts and ferns). Van den Hoek ''et al.'' (2005).

'

' (1751) was a summary of Linnaeus's thinking on plant classification and nomenclature, and an elaboration of the work he had previously published in ' (1736) and ' (1737). Other publications forming part of his plan to reform the foundations of botany include his ' and ': all were printed in Holland (as were ' (1737) and ' (1735)), the ''Philosophia'' being simultaneously released in Stockholm.

Collections

External Statues, Palm House, Sefton Park (4)

At the end of his lifetime the Linnean collection in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the ca ...

was considered one of the finest collections of natural history objects in Sweden. Next to his own collection he had also built up a museum for the university of Uppsala, which was supplied by material donated by Carl Gyllenborg (in 1744–1745), crown-prince

Adolf Fredrik Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

(in 1745), Erik Petreus (in 1746),

Claes Grill Claes Grill (sometimes spelt Claës Grill; 19 April 1705 – 6 November 1767) was a Swedish merchant, factory owner and ship-owner. He was director of the Grill Trading House, one of the leading companies in the East India trade through the Swed ...

(in 1746), Magnus Lagerström (in 1748 and 1750) and

Jonas Alströmer Jonas Alströmer (7 January 1685 – 2 June 1761) was a pioneer of agriculture and industry in Sweden. Born Jonas Toresson (later changed to Alström) in the town of Alingsås in Västergötland, in 1707 he became a clerk for Stockholm merchan ...

(in 1749). The relation between the museum and the private collection was not formalised and the steady flow of material from Linnean pupils were incorporated to the private collection rather than to the museum.Wallin, L. 2001.
Catalogue of type specimens. 4. Linnaean specimens. – pp. 1–128. Uppsala. (Uppsala University, Museum of Evolution, Zoology Section). Linnaeus felt his work was reflecting the harmony of nature and he said in 1754 "the earth is then nothing else but a museum of the all-wise creator's masterpieces, divided into three chambers". He had turned his own estate into a microcosm of that 'world museum'. In April 1766 parts of the town were destroyed by a fire and the Linnean private collection was subsequently moved to a barn outside the town, and shortly afterwards to a single-room stone building close to his country house at Hammarby near Uppsala. This resulted in a physical separation between the two collections; the museum collection remained in the botanical garden of the university. Some material which needed special care (alcohol specimens) or ample storage space was moved from the private collection to the museum. In Hammarby the Linnean private collections suffered seriously from damp and the depredations by mice and insects. Carl von Linné's son (Carl Linnaeus) inherited the collections in 1778 and retained them until his own death in 1783. Shortly after Carl von Linné's death his son confirmed that mice had caused "horrible damage" to the plants and that also moths and mould had caused considerable damage.Dance, S.P. 1967. Report on the Linnaean shell collection. – Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 178 (1): 1–24, Pl. 1–10. He tried to rescue them from the neglect they had suffered during his father's later years, and also added further specimens. This last activity however reduced rather than augmented the scientific value of the original material. In 1784 the young medical student James Edward Smith purchased the entire specimen collection, library, manuscripts, and correspondence of Carl Linnaeus from his widow and daughter and transferred the collections to London. Fries (2011), pp. 342–357. Not all material in Linné's private collection was transported to England. Thirty-three fish specimens preserved in alcohol were not sent and were later lost. In London Smith tended to neglect the zoological parts of the collection; he added some specimens and also gave some specimens away. Over the following centuries the Linnean collection in London suffered enormously at the hands of scientists who studied the collection, and in the process disturbed the original arrangement and labels, added specimens that did not belong to the original series and withdrew precious original type material. Much material which had been intensively studied by Linné in his scientific career belonged to the collection of Queen Lovisa Ulrika (1720–1782) (in the Linnean publications referred to as "Museum Ludovicae Ulricae" or "M. L. U."). This collection was donated by her grandson King Gustav IV Adolf (1778–1837) to the museum in Uppsala in 1804. Another important collection in this respect was that of her husband King Adolf Fredrik (1710–1771) (in the Linnean sources known as "Museum Adolphi Friderici" or "Mus. Ad. Fr."), the wet parts (alcohol collection) of which were later donated to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

, and is today housed in the

Swedish Museum of Natural History The Swedish Museum of Natural History ( sv, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, literally, the National Museum of Natural History), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg. The ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. The dry material was transferred to Uppsala.

System of taxonomy

The establishment of universally accepted conventions for the naming of organisms was Linnaeus's main contribution to taxonomy—his work marks the starting point of consistent use of binomial nomenclature. Reveal & Pringle (1993), pp. 160–161. During the 18th century expansion of natural history knowledge, Linnaeus also developed what became known as the ''Linnaean taxonomy''; the system of

scientific classification Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

now widely used in the

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

. A previous zoologist Rumphius (1627–1702) had more or less approximated the Linnaean system and his material contributed to the later development of the binomial scientific classification by Linnaeus. The Linnaean system classified nature within a

nested hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

, starting with three kingdoms. Kingdoms were divided into classes and they, in turn, into orders, and thence into genera (''singular:'' genus), which were divided into species (''singular:'' species). Below the rank of species he sometimes recognised taxa of a lower (unnamed)

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

; these have since acquired standardised names such as ''variety'' in botany and ''subspecies'' in zoology. Modern taxonomy includes a rank of

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

between order and genus and a rank of

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature ...

between kingdom and class that were not present in Linnaeus's original system. Davis & Heywood (1973), p. 17. Linnaeus's groupings were based upon shared physical characteristics, and not based upon differences. Of his higher groupings, only those for animals are still in use, and the groupings themselves have been significantly changed since their conception, as have the principles behind them. Nevertheless, Linnaeus is credited with establishing the idea of a hierarchical structure of classification which is based upon observable characteristics and intended to reflect natural relationships. While the underlying details concerning what are considered to be scientifically valid "observable characteristics" have changed with expanding knowledge (for example,

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. T ...

, unavailable in Linnaeus's time, has proven to be a tool of considerable utility for classifying living organisms and establishing their evolutionary relationships), the fundamental principle remains sound.

Human taxonomy

Linnaeus's system of taxonomy was especially noted as the first to include humans (''

Homo ''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus '' Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely rela ...

'') taxonomically grouped with apes (''

Simia In his '' Systema Naturae'' of 1758, Carl Linnaeus divided the Order Primates within ''Mammalia'' into four genera: '' Homo'', ''Simia'', '' Lemur'', and ''Vespertilio''. His ''Vespertilio'' included all bats, and has since been moved from Prim ...

''), under the header of ''

Anthropomorpha Anthropomorpha (original spelling: Antropomorpha) is a defunct taxon, replaced by '' Primates''. The order was established by Carl Linnaeus in the first edition of his book Systema Naturae (1735) for genera ''Homo'' (humans), ''Simia'' (monkey ...

''. German biologist

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...

speaking in 1907 noted this as the "most important sign of Linnaeus's genius". Linnaeus classified humans among the

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

s beginning with the first edition of '. During his time at Hartekamp, he had the opportunity to examine several

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s and noted similarities between them and man. Gribbin & Gribbin (2008), pp. 173–174. He pointed out both species basically have the same anatomy; except for speech, he found no other differences. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 170. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 167, quotes Linnaeus explaining the real difference would necessarily be absent from his classification system, as it was not a morphological characteristic: ''"I well know what a splendidly great difference there is etweena man and a ''bestia'' iterally, "beast"; that is, a non-human animalwhen I look at them from a point of view of

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

. Man is the animal which the Creator has seen fit to honor with such a magnificent

mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

and has condescended to adopt as his favorite and for which he has prepared a nobler life"''. See als
books.google.com
in which Linnaeus cites the significant capacity to reason as the distinguishing characteristic of humans. Thus he placed man and monkeys under the same category, ''Anthropomorpha'', meaning "manlike." Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 167. This classification received criticism from other biologists such as Johan Gottschalk Wallerius,

Jacob Theodor Klein Jacob Theodor Klein (nickname ''Plinius Gedanensium''; 15 August 1685 – 27 February 1759) was a German jurist, historian, botanist, zoologist, mathematician and diplomat in service of Polish King August II the Strong. Life Klein was born on ...

and

Johann Georg Gmelin Johann Georg Gmelin (8 August 1709 – 20 May 1755) was a German naturalist, botanist and geographer. Early life and education Gmelin was born in Tübingen, the son of a professor at the University of Tübingen. He was a gifted child and began ...

on the ground that it is illogical to describe man as human-like. In a letter to Gmelin from 1747, Linnaeus replied: Antropomorpha12c

The theological concerns were twofold: first, putting man at the same level as monkeys or apes would lower the spiritually higher position that man was assumed to have in the

great chain of being The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals. The great ...

, and second, because the Bible says man was created in the

image of God The image of God (; ) is a concept and theological doctrine in Christianity, as well as in Judaism. This concept is a foundational aspect of Christian and Jewish understandings of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, which ...

(

theomorphism Theomorphism, from Greek θεος, ''theos'' (God) and μορφη, ''morphē'' (shape or form) is the early Christian heresy that states that change in the divine nature is possible. It is most commonly used to refer to the idea that the nature ...

), if monkeys/apes and humans were not distinctly and separately designed, that would mean monkeys and apes were created in the image of God as well. This was something many could not accept. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), pp. 171–172. The conflict between

world view A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...

s that was caused by asserting man was a type of animal would simmer for a century until the much greater, and still ongoing,

creation–evolution controversy Recurring cultural, political, and theological rejection of evolution by religious groups (sometimes termed the creation–evolution controversy, the creation vs. evolution debate or the origins debate) exists regarding the origins of the Ea ...

began in earnest with the publication of ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

in 1859. After such criticism, Linnaeus felt he needed to explain himself more clearly. The 10th edition of ' introduced new terms, including ''Mammalia'' and ''Primates'', the latter of which would replace ''Anthropomorpha'' Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 175. as well as giving humans the full binomial ''Homo sapiens''. Blunt (2004), p. 8. The new classification received less criticism, but many natural historians still believed he had demoted humans from their former place of ruling over nature and not being a part of it. Linnaeus believed that man biologically belongs to the animal kingdom and had to be included in it. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), pp. 191–192. In his book ', he said, "One should not vent one's wrath on animals, Theology decree that man has a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and that the animals are mere 'aoutomata mechanica,' but I believe they would be better advised that animals have a soul and that the difference is of nobility." Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 166. Hoppius Anthropomorpha

Linnaeus added a second species to the genus ''Homo'' in ' based on a figure and description by

Jacobus Bontius Jacobus Bontius (Jacob de Bondt) (1592, in Leiden – 30 November 1631, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies) was a Dutch physician and a pioneer of tropical medicine. He is known for the four-volume work ''De medicina Indorum''. His 1631 work "Historiae ...

from a 1658 publication: ''Homo troglodytes'' ("caveman") Bontius (1658)
p. 84
and published a third in 1771: ''Homo lar''. Swedish historian

Gunnar Broberg Gunnar Broberg (5 September 1942 – 30 April 2022) was since 1990 Professor in History of Science and Ideas at Lund University, Sweden. Among other writings, Prof. Broberg has written about the compulsory sterilization activities in Sweden and ...

states that the new human species Linnaeus described were actually simians or native people clad in skins to frighten colonial settlers, whose appearance had been exaggerated in accounts to Linnaeus. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 187. For ''Homo troglodytes'' Linnaeus asked the

to search for one, but they did not find any signs of its existence. Frängsmyr ''et al.'' (1983), p. 186. ''Homo lar'' has since been reclassified as ''Hylobates lar'', the lar gibbon. In the first edition of ', Linnaeus subdivided the human species into four

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: "Europæus albesc ns (whitish European), "Americanus rubesc ns (reddish American), "Asiaticus fuscus" (tawny Asian) and "Africanus nigr

culus Latin obscenity is the profane, indecent, or impolite vocabulary of Latin, and its uses. Words deemed obscene were described as (obscene, lewd, unfit for public use), or (improper, in poor taste, undignified). Documented obscenities occurred rar ...

(blackish African). In the tenth edition of Systema Naturae he further detailed phenotypical characteristics for each variety, based on the concept of the

four temperaments The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types w ...

from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, and changed the description of Asians' skin tone to "luridus" (yellow). Additionally, Linnaeus created a

wastebasket taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...

"monstrosus" for "wild and monstrous humans, unknown groups, and more or less abnormal people". In 1959, W. T. Stearn designated Linnaeus to be the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

of ''H. sapiens''.

Influences and economic beliefs

Linnaeus's applied science was inspired not only by the instrumental utilitarianism general to the early Enlightenment, but also by his adherence to the older economic doctrine of

Cameralism Cameralism ( German: ''Kameralismus'') was a German science of public administration in the 18th and early 19th centuries that aimed at strong management of a centralized economy for the benefit mainly of the state. The discipline in its most n ...

. Koerner (1999), p. 95–96. Additionally, Linnaeus was a state interventionist. He supported tariffs, levies, export bounties, quotas, embargoes, navigation acts, subsidised investment capital, ceilings on wages, cash grants, state-licensed producer monopolies, and cartels. Koerner (1999), p. 97.

Commemoration

Anniversaries of Linnaeus's birth, especially in centennial years, have been marked by major celebrations. Östholm (2007) Linnaeus has appeared on numerous Swedish postage stamps and

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s. There are numerous statues of Linnaeus in countries around the world. The

has awarded the

Linnean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

for excellence in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, an ...

since 1888. Following approval by the

Riksdag of Sweden The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

, Växjö University and Kalmar College merged on 1 January 2010 to become

Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) ( sv, Linnéuniversitetet) is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with two campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar respectively. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 b ...

. Other things named after Linnaeus include the twinflower genus '' Linnaea'', ''

Linnaeosicyos ''Linnaeosicyos'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. The only species is ''Linnaeosicyos amara'' . It is native to the Dominican Republic. The genus name of ''Linnaeosicyos'' is in honour of Carl Linn ...

'' (a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

in the family

Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *'' Lagen ...

), the crater Linné on the Earth's moon, a street in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, and the cobalt sulfide mineral

Linnaeite Linnaeite is a cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iro ...

Commentary

Andrew Dickson White Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who cofounded Cornell University and served as its first president for nearly two decades. He was known for expanding the scope of college curricu ...

wrote in ''

A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom ''A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom'' was published in two volumes by Andrew Dickson White, a founder of Cornell University, in 1896. In the introduction White states the original goal of his 1874 lecture on ''The ...

'' (1896): The mathematical

PageRank PageRank (PR) is an algorithm used by Google Search to rank webpages, web pages in their search engine results. It is named after both the term "web page" and co-founder Larry Page. PageRank is a way of measuring the importance of website pages. A ...

algorithm, applied to 24 multilingual Wikipedia editions in 2014, published in '' PLOS ONE'' in 2015, placed Carl Linnaeus at the top historical figure, above

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

(in that order). In the 21st century, Linnæus's taxonomy of human "races" has been problematised and discussed. Some critics claim that Linnæus was one of the forebears of the modern pseudoscientific notion of

scientific racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies ...

, while others hold the view that while his classification was stereotyped, it did not imply that certain human "races" were superior to others.

Standard author abbreviation

Selected publications by Linnaeus

* * * * Linnaeus, Carl 1846 ''Fauna svecica. Sistens Animalia Sveciae Regni: Quadrupedia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta, Vermes, distributae per classes & ordines, genera & species''. C. Wishoff & G.J. Wishoff, Lugdnuni Batavorum. * * ''see also

'' * * * * *

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Biographies
Biography
at the Department of Systematic Botany,

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

Biography
at The Linnean Society of London

from the

University of California Museum of Paleontology The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is a paleontology museum located on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The museum is within the Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB), designed by George W. Kelham and ...

* A four-minut
biographical video
from the London

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

on YouTube
Biography
from Taxonomic Literature, 2nd Edition. 1976–2009. Resources * *
The Linnean Society of London

The Linnaeus Apostles

The Linnean Collections

The Linnean Correspondence

The Linnaean Dissertations

The Linnaeus Tercentenary

Works by Carl von Linné
at the

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...

Digital edition: "Critica Botanica"
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of t ...

Digital edition: "Classes plantarum seu systemata plantarum"
by the

''Oratio de telluris habitabilis incremento''
(1744) – full digital facsimile from

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

Other * Linnaeus was depicted by Jay Hosler in a parody of ''Peanuts'' titled
Good ol' Charlie Darwin
. * Th

of ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' featured a picture of Linnaeus on the cover with the heading "Linnaeus's Legacy" and devoted a substantial portion to items related to Linnaeus and Linnaean taxonomy. * A

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

of Linnaeus'
definition of the order Primates
mentioned by

Carl Zimmer Carl Zimmer (born 1966) is a popular science writer, blogger, columnist, and journalist who specializes in the topics of evolution, parasites, and heredity. The author of many books, he contributes science essays to publications such as ''The ...

* ''

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...

'
tree at the University of Harderwijk
said to have been planted by Linnaeus in 1735 *''SL Magazine,'' Spring 2018 features an article by Nicholas Sparks, librarian, Collection Strategy and Development titled ''Origins of Taxonomy,'' describing a generous donation from the Linnean Society of NSW to supplement the State Library of New South Wales's collections on Carl Linnaeus of documents, photographs, prints and drawings as well as a fine portrait of Linnaeus painted about 1800. {{DEFAULTSORT:Linnaeus, Carl 1707 births 1778 deaths 18th-century Latin-language writers 18th-century male writers 18th-century Swedish physicians 18th-century Swedish zoologists 18th-century Swedish writers Age of Liberty people Swedish arachnologists Botanical nomenclature Botanists active in Europe Botanists with author abbreviations Bryologists Burials at Uppsala Cathedral Fellows of the Royal Society Historical definitions of race Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences People from Älmhult Municipality Phycologists Pteridologists Swedish autobiographers Swedish biologists Swedish botanists Swedish entomologists Swedish expatriates in the Dutch Republic Swedish Lutherans Swedish mammalogists Swedish mycologists Linne, Carl von Swedish ornithologists Swedish taxonomists Terminologists Taxon authorities of Hypericum species University of Harderwijk alumni Uppsala University alumni Uppsala University faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society 18th-century lexicographers