Carolus Linnaeus
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
.jpg/175px-Carolus_Linnaeus_(cleaned_up_version).jpg)
Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778) was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who created Binomial nomenclature. This system, in which every kind of animal and plant is given a name consisting of two Latin words, was soon used by countries all over the world. He is called the "father of modern taxonomy" and is thought of as one of the fathers of modern ecology. He was very famous in his time, and also a very good linguist.
Contents |
[change] Name
His name is said in many ways: 'Carl Linnaeus', 'Carolus Linnaeus' and 'Carl von Linné', sometimes just 'Carl Linné'. He used Carolus Linnaeus when making his books about science. Carolus Linnaeus is a name in Latin, his actual name is Carl von Linne. He created his own name to match his latin classification system. Father of taxonomy.
[change] Biography
[change] Early life
Carl Linnaeus was born in Sweden. He was going to be a priest, but did not do so well in school for that. Instead his interest in botany got him started studying at a college for this. Carl studied in Lund and tried to make something of the garden there. He later went to another college, Uppsala.
While at Uppsala, he did some research and began coming up with his system of naming. In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala gave Linnaeus money to go on an expedition to Lapland in northernmost Sweden, which was not well studied then. Carolus wrote two books about his trip.
[change] Travels and research
In 1735 Linnaeus moved to the Netherlands, for three years. Here he earned his degree in Medicine. He also published his book on naming systems.
Later he moved to Stockholm and became a physicist. In 1739 Linnaeus married Sara Morea in Stockholm. Throughout the 1740s he conducted many field trips to many places in Sweden to name plants and animals. When not on travels, Linnaeus worked on his naming system, so that they would work for plants, animals, and minerals.
The Swedish king Adolf Fredrik made Linnaeus a noble in 1757, and Linnaeus took the last name von Linné, later often signing just Carl Linné.
[change] Last years
After he was made a noble, he continued teaching and writing. His reputation had spread over the world, and he talked with many different people. Linnaeus was upset by weak health, and he had gout and tooth aches.[2] A stroke in 1774 weakened him, and two years later he had another, losing the use of his right side. He died on January 1778 in Uppsala. He was buried in the cathedral.[3]
[change] Linnaean taxonomy
[change] Mankind
Linnaeus also defined an idea of "race" as applied to humans, but this idea is now seen as false. He tried to identify people by where they were born, features, and skin color, and then made up names for many creatures in stories, such as the troglodyte, satyr, hydra, and phoenix. He said that not only did these creatures really exist, but were just bad descriptions of real-world ape-like animals.
Linnaeus' study took science on a path that was different from what the Church wanted.The Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala had accused him of "impiety."
[change] Notes and references
- ↑ Stafleu, F.A. (1976-1998) Taxonomic Literature second edition. An authoritative work on the names of botanists, their works and publication data, issued under the auspices of the IAPT.
- ↑ Uppsala University, Linné Online, English language version
- ↑ 1911 Encyclopedica Britannica
[change] References
- Sörlin & Fagerstedt, Linné och hans lärjungar, 2004.
- J.L.P.M.Krol, Linneaus' verblijf op de Hartekamp In: Het landgoed de Hartekamp in Heemstede. Heemstede, 1982.
