We offer you a biography of Karl Linnaeus. This person (years of life - 1707-1778) is a famous Swedish natural scientist. The scientist gained world fame thanks to the animal and plant system created by him. The biography of Carl Linnaeus, presented below, will introduce you to the main events of his life and scientific achievements.
Origin and childhood of the future scientist
The future natural scientist was born in southern Sweden, in the area of Roshult. The biography of Karl Linnaeus begins on May 25, 1707. It was then that he was born. The boy's father was a village pastor who owned a wooden house and garden, where Karl first became acquainted with the plant world. The future scientist collected them, dried, sorted and formed herbariums. Karl received his primary education at a local school. Interestingly, the teachers considered Linnaeus an impotent child.
University studies, scientific expedition
In the hope of his son getting a medical education, his parents decided to send him to a university located in Lund. A year later, Linnaeus moved to Uppsala. The future scientist received a higher botanical education here. After some time, the biography of Carl Linnaeus was marked by an important event. The Royal Swedish Science Society decided to send Karl on a scientific expedition to Lapland. From the trip, Linnaeus brought a large collection of minerals, animals and plants. On November 9, 1732, the scientist presented to the Royal Society a report on what he saw during the expedition.
Lapland Flora and Nature's System
"Lapland Flora" is Carl Linnaeus' first botany work, which he wrote based on this journey. However, he won fame with very little work (only 12 pages), published in Leiden (Holland) in 1735. The work is called the "System of Nature".
Karl created a classification of the organic world. Two Latin names received each plant and animal. The first of them served as the designation of the genus, and the second - the species. John Ray (years of life - 1627-1705) introduced the concept of species into biology in relation to individuals who differ from each other no more than the children of the same parents differ. Karl Linney identified all kinds of animals and plants known at that time.
An important merit of Linnaeus is that in the 10th edition of his work System of Nature, which appeared in 1759, the scientist applied the concept of binary nomenclature and introduced it into use. Binarius in Latin means "double." Each biological species in accordance with this is indicated using two Latin names - species and generic. Linnaeus defined the concept of “species” using both the physiological criterion (the presence of prolific offspring) and the morphological criterion, which John Ray spoke about. Karl established a subordination between the following categories of the system: variation, species, gender, order (order), class. All the generally accepted botanical and zoological nomenclature in Latin originates precisely from this work.
Life in Holland, new works
Linnaeus, receiving in Holland (Hartkali) a doctorate in medicine, spent 2 years in Leiden. It was here that brilliant ideas took shape in him to organize all 3 kingdoms of nature into a system. While in Holland, the scientist published his main works. However, it is worth noting that the most important place in the classification of Linnaeus was occupied in zoology by the System of Nature, and in botany by the work Plant Species. In 1761, the second edition of this essay on botany was published. It described 7540 species and 1260 genera of plants. In this case, the varieties are highlighted separately.
6 classes of animals
Karl Linney, whose contribution to biology we will examine in more detail below, divided all animals into six classes: insects, worms, fish, amphibians, birds, mammals. The amphibian class included reptiles and amphibians, the worms - all forms of invertebrates known in its time (except for insects). The advantage of the classification proposed by the scientist is that the person is assigned to the order of primates of the mammalian class. Thus, Linnaeus included it in the system of the animal kingdom.
24 classes of plants
Karl Linney did not stop there. His contribution to biology concerned the classification of not only animals, but also plants. Linnaeus divided all their existing species into 24 classes. The scientist admitted that they have sex.
The basis of the classification he created, called the sexual (sexual), he laid the characteristic features of pistils and stamens. The scientist believed that the reproductive organs are the most permanent and essential parts of the body in plants. Linnaeus divided all classes into units according to the peculiarities of the arrangement of pestles (female organs of the plant).
Note that the Karl Linney system was artificial. Groups of plants stood out in it on the basis of single characters. This inevitably led to the appearance of numerous errors by Karl Linnaeus. However, his system played a large role in the development of science, and the approach of this scientist is interesting.
Two classifications of Linnaeus
It is believed that the main merits of Carl Linnaeus - the creation of a binary nomenclature, as well as the standardization and improvement of terminology in botany. Instead of the previous definitions, which are very cumbersome, the scientist introduced clear and short names containing a list of characteristics of plants in a certain order. Karl Linnaeus distinguished the following categories of the system of living organisms, subordinated to each other: species, species, genera, orders and classes. The scientist understood that the system created by him was artificial, that his classification was conditional, since the signs for it were chosen arbitrarily. Linnaeus, striving for excellence, proposed another classification. He distributed all the plants in order (or rather, families), which seemed natural to him.
Lecturing in Uppsala, publication of scientific papers
Linnaeus made several more trips for scientific purposes, after which he settled in Uppsala. In 1742, he became a professor of botany at a local university. Students from all over the world began to come together to Karl Linnaeus to listen to his lectures. The University Botanical Garden played a special role in the classes. Linnaeus collected in it more than 3 thousand plants from around the world. This garden subsequently became also zoological. Linnaeus wrote the textbook Philosophy of Botany in 1751. In addition, he published several major works and many articles in journals of scientific communities in London, St. Petersburg, Uppsala, Stockholm and other cities. The merits of Carl Linnaeus did not remain unappreciated. The scientist in 1762 became a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences.
Merits of a scientist in the classification of plants
So, Karl Linney, whose contribution to science we briefly examined, for the first time gave an accurate description of the genera and species of 10 thousand plants. The scientist himself discovered and described about 1.5 thousand species. He drew attention to the movement of their leaves and flowers, although Karl Linney did not try to explain the mechanics of this process. The classification of flora created by him was simple, albeit artificial. It was based on the location and size of the pistils and stamens of the flower. The classification adopted by Linnaeus has gained worldwide recognition.
Karl Linney and the theory of evolution
However, this scientist was not a supporter of the theory of evolution in biology. He claimed, according to a legend from the Bible, that the first pairs of organisms were created on a paradise island and subsequently multiplied and spread. At first, Karl Linney believed that every species from the day of creation has not been changed. However, he later noted that new species can be obtained by crossing. Despite this, the scientist argued that reasoning about the mutability of organisms is a departure from the dogmas of religion, and therefore they are worthy of blame.
Thus, Linnaeus put the idea of the invariance of all species as the basis for the artificial classification of plants. Although he was not an evolutionist, the static systematics he created became the cornerstone in the further development of natural science. Many scientists engaged in research in the field of evolution, turned to the works written by Karl Linnaeus. The contribution to his science from this point of view is great. The double names of animals and plants did not just streamline the chaos observed before it in the classification of flora and fauna. After some time, these names became an important means by which the kinship of species was determined. The system of nature of Carl Linnaeus, therefore, played an outstanding role in evolutionary theory.
Other classifications and works of Linnaeus
Karl also classified minerals and soils, diseases (by symptoms), human races, discovered the healing and toxic properties of many plants. He is the author of several works, mainly on zoology and botany, as well as in the field of practical and theoretical medicine. So, in the period from 1749 to 1763, three volumes of Medicinal Substances were written, in 1763 - The Birth of Diseases, in 1766 - The Key to Medicine.
The last years of life, the fate of heritage
In 1774, the scientist became seriously ill. The life of Karl Linnaeus ended in Uppsala on January 10, 1778. His widow sold the collections, manuscripts and libraries of Linnaeus Smith to the English botanist. He founded the Linnaeus Society in London in 1788. And today it exists and is one of the largest scientific centers in the world.