Swedish naturalist, "father of modern botanical taxonomy" and creator of modern biological nomenclature.
Born on May 23, 1707 in Roshult in the province of Småland in the family of a village pastor. His parents wanted Karl to become a clergyman, but from his youth he was fascinated by natural history, especially botany. These activities were encouraged by a local doctor, who advised Linnaeus to choose a medical profession, since at that time botany was considered a part of pharmacology. In 1727, Linnaeus entered the University of Lund, and the following year he moved to Uppsala University, where the teaching of botany and medicine was better. In Uppsala he lived and worked with Olaf Celsius, a theologian and amateur botanist who participated in the preparation of the book Biblical Botany (Hierobotanicum) - a list of plants mentioned in the Bible. In 1729, as a New Year's gift to Celsius, Linnaeus wrote the essay Introduction to the Engagements of Plants (Praeludia sponsalorum plantarun), in which he poetically described their sexual process. This work not only delighted Celsius, but also aroused the interest of university teachers and students. It predetermined the main range of Linnaeus' future interests - the classification of plants according to their reproductive organs. In 1731, having defended his dissertation, Linnaeus became an assistant to professor of botany O. Rudbeck. The following year he traveled to Lapland. For three months he wandered around this then wild country, collecting plant samples. Uppsala scientific society, which subsidized this work, published only a short report about it - Flora Lapponica. Detailed work Linnea's book on the plants of Lapland was published only in 1737, and his vividly written expedition diary, Lapland Life (Lachesis Lapponica), was published after the author's death in a Latin translation.
In 1733-1734, Linnaeus lectured and conducted scientific work at the university, and wrote a number of books and articles. However, pursuing a medical career traditionally required obtaining an advanced degree abroad. In 1735 he entered the University of Harderwijk in Holland, where he soon received his doctorate in medicine. In Holland, he became close to the famous Leiden doctor G. Boerhaave, who recommended Linnaeus to the burgomaster of Amsterdam, Georg Clifford, a passionate gardener, who by that time had collected a magnificent collection of exotic plants. Clifford made Linnaeus his personal physician and instructed him to identify and classify the specimens he bred. The result was the excellent treatise Clifford's Garden (Hortus Cliffortianus), published in 1737.
In 1736-1738, the first editions of many of Linnaeus's works were published in Holland: in 1736 - System of Nature (Systema naturae), Botanical Library (Bibliotheca botanica) and Fundamentals of Botany (Fundamenta botanica); in 1737 - Criticism of botany (Critica botanica), Genera of plants (Genera plantarum), Flora of Lapland (Flora Lapponica) and the Cliffortian garden (Hortus Cliffortianus); in 1738 - Classes of plants (Classes plantarum), Collection of genera (Corollarium generum) and Sexual method (Methodus sexualist). In addition, in 1738 Linnaeus edited a book on fish, Ichthyologia, which remained unfinished after the death of his friend Peter Artedi. Botanical works, especially plant genera, formed the basis of modern plant taxonomy. In them Linnaeus described and applied new system classification, which greatly simplified the identification of organisms. In his method, which he called "sexual", the main emphasis was on the structure and number of reproductive structures of plants, i.e. stamens (male organs) and pistils (female organs). Although Linnaeus's classification is largely artificial, it was so much more convenient than all the systems existing at that time that it soon received universal recognition. Its rules were formulated so simply and clearly that they seemed to be the laws of nature, and Linnaeus himself, of course, considered them as such. However, his views on the sexual process in plants, although they were not original, also found their critics: some accused Linnaeus’s teaching of immorality, others of excessive anthropomorphism.
An even more daring work than botanical work was the famous System of Nature. Its first edition of about a dozen printed sheets, which is a general outline of the intended book, was an attempt to distribute all the creations of nature - animals, plants and minerals - into classes, orders, genera and species, and also to establish rules for their identification. Corrected and expanded editions of this treatise were published 12 times during Linnaeus's life and were reprinted several times after his death.
In 1738, Linnaeus, on behalf of Clifford, visited the botanical centers of England. By that time, he had already earned international recognition among naturalists and received invitations to work in Holland and Germany. However, Linnaeus chose to return to Sweden. In 1739 he opened medical practice in Stockholm, continued to study natural history. In 1741 he was appointed professor of medicine at Uppsala University, and in 1742 he also became professor of botany there. In subsequent years he mainly taught and wrote scientific works, however, at the same time he committed several scientific expeditions to little-explored areas of Sweden and published a report on each of them. Linnaeus's enthusiasm, his fame, and most importantly his ability to infect those around him with the desire to find something new attracted many followers to him. He collected a huge herbarium and a collection of plants. Collectors from all over the world sent him specimens of unknown forms of life, and he described their findings in his books.
In 1745 Linnaeus published the Flora of Sweden (Flora Suecica), in 1746 - the Fauna of Sweden (Fauna Suecica), in 1748 - the Uppsala Garden (Hortus Upsaliensis). New editions of The System of Nature continue to be published in Sweden and abroad. Some of them, especially the sixth (1748), tenth (1758) and twelfth (1766), significantly supplemented the previous ones. The famous 10th and 12th editions became encyclopedic multi-volume sets, not only representing an attempt to classify natural objects, but also those who gave brief descriptions, i.e. features, all species of animals, plants and minerals known at that time. The article about each species was supplemented with information about its geographical distribution, habitat, behavior and varieties. The 12th edition was the most complete, but the 10th edition acquired the greatest importance. It was from the moment of its publication that the priority of modern zoological nomenclature was established, because it was in this book that Linnaeus first gave double (binary, or binomial) names to all animal species known to him. In 1753 he completed his great work Plant species (Species plantarum); it contained descriptions and binary names all types of plants that determined modern botanical nomenclature. In his book Philosophia botanica, published in 1751, Linnaeus aphoristically outlined the principles that guided his study of plants. The German writer, thinker and natural scientist Goethe admitted: “Besides Shakespeare and Spinoza, the most strong influence Linnaeus influenced me."
Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in the village of Roshult in Sweden in the family of a priest. Two years later he and his family moved to Stenbrohult. Interest in plants in the biography of Carl Linnaeus appeared already in childhood. Elementary education received at a school in the city of Växjö, and after graduating from school he entered the gymnasium. Linnaeus's parents wanted the boy to continue the family business and become a pastor. But Karl was of little interest in theology. He devoted a lot of time to studying plants.
Thanks to urgency school teacher Johan Rothman's parents allowed Karl to study medical sciences. Then the university stage began. Karl began studying at the University of Lund. And in order to become more familiar with medicine, a year later he moved to Uppsald University. In addition, he continued to educate himself. Together with a student at the same university, Peter Artedi, Linnaeus began revising and criticizing the principles of natural science.
In 1729, an acquaintance took place with W. Celsius, who played important role in the development of Linnaeus as a botanist. Then Karl moved to the house of Professor Celsius and began to get acquainted with his huge library. Basic Ideas Linnaeus's classification of plants was outlined in his first work, “Introduction to the Sexual Life of Plants.”
A year later, Linnaeus had already begun teaching, lecturing in botanical garden Uppsald University.
He spent the period from May to October 1732 in Lapland. After fruitful work during the trip, his book “ Brief flora Lapland." It was in this work that the reproductive system in flora. The following year, Linnaeus became interested in mineralogy, even publishing a textbook. Then in 1734, in order to study plants, he went to the province of Dalarna.
Doctor's degree medical sciences he received in June 1735 at the University of Harderwijk. Next work Linnaeus's "System of Nature" marked new stage in Linnaeus's career and life in general. Thanks to new connections and friends, he received the position of caretaker of one of the largest botanical gardens in Holland, which collected plants from all over the world. So Karl continued to classify plants. And after the death of his friend Peter, Artedi published his work and later used his ideas for classifying fish. While living in Holland, Linnaeus's works were published: “Fundamenta Botanica”, “Musa Cliffordiana”, “Hortus Clifortianus”, “Critica botanica”, “Genera plantarum” and others.
The scientist returned to his homeland in 1773. There in Stockholm he began practicing medicine, using his knowledge of plants to treat people. He also taught and was chairman Royal Academy Sciences, professor at Uppsala University (he retained his position until his death).
Then Carly Linnaeus went on an expedition to the islands in his biography Baltic Sea, visited Western and southern Sweden. And in 1750 he became rector of the university where he had previously taught. In 1761 he received the status of a nobleman. And on January 10, 1778, Linnaeus died.
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Name: Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linnaeus)
Age: 70 years old
Activity: naturalist, physician
Family status: was married
Carl Linnaeus: biography
Carl Linnaeus is a world-famous scientist, academician and professor who made a huge contribution to science. Botanists consider him the creator of their science, but in fact scientific creativity Linnaeus is much broader. The man is also valued as the creator of literary Swedish in its current form. In addition, the scientist contributed to the introduction of natural science teaching into the university education system.
Childhood and youth
Karl was born in 1707 in the small Swiss village of Roschult. Nikolaus Linneus - the boy's father, worked as a priest. Since he was the son of peasants, his parents did not have enough money for his studies. He studied for some time at Lund University, but without receiving an academic degree, he was forced to return home. There, the young man gets a job as an assistant to a local pastor, and soon takes holy orders and works as an assistant in a church for parishioners.
Karl's mother is the daughter of a priest. Karl became the couple's first child, after him four more children were born into the family. The mother's father, Pastor Brodersonius, dies in the year the first grandson was born. And after 2 years, Nikolaus is appointed priest, and the family moves to the house where his grandfather lived.
When settling in a new place, the head of the family sets up a garden around the house, plants vegetables, fruits and flowers. From early childhood, Karl was inquisitive, interested in the world around him, and especially vegetation. At the age of 8, the boy knew most of the plants in his area. Nikolaus allocated his son a small plot next to the house, where Karl planted various seeds and grew flowers and herbs.
Basic knowledge Karl studied at a lower grammar school in the city of Växjö, the same one where his father studied, and after 8 years he entered the gymnasium. Since this city was located far from home, Karl was not able to visit his family often, so he saw his father and mother only during the holidays. The boy studied poorly at school; the only subject the young man could cope with was mathematics, but he also continued to be interested in biology.
Studying was so difficult for the young man that teachers even suggested that his parents transfer their son to learn a craft. At that time, lessons in logic and medical subjects at the school were taught by a doctor, who convinced the school authorities to leave the student to study to become a doctor. To do this, Karl had to live with a teacher; he taught the boy individually. In addition to the main classes, the program also included botany, beloved by future scientists.
The science
After graduating from school in 1727, Linnaeus entered the university in Lund. There he makes acquaintance with Professor Stobeus. In the future, the man helps him with housing and settles him in his house. To a young man access to the professor's library opens. At the same time, he gets acquainted with the personal collection of sea and river inhabitants and the herbarium of plants collected by the teacher in Lund. Stobeus's lectures played an important role in Linnaeus's development as a botanist.
In 1728, Linnaeus moved to the university in Uppsala. This university provided more possibilities study medicine under the guidance of talented professors. Students tried to gain as much knowledge as possible and, in their free time from classes, independently studied the sciences of interest.
There, Karl became friends with a student, he was also interested in biology, and together the young people began to work on revising the natural history classifications that existed at that time. Karl focused on studying plants. An important stage in Linnaeus’s life was his acquaintance with Olof Celsius, a teacher of theology. This happened in the late 1720s, the man gave the young man access to the library and allowed him to live in his house, since Karl was in difficult conditions. financial situation.
Soon the young man wrote his first research paper, in which he included the main ideas for the future sexual classification of plants. The publication aroused considerable interest among university teachers. The student’s scientific work was also appreciated by Rudbeck Jr., who is a professor at the university, and allowed Karl to teach as a demonstrator in the university’s botanical garden.
An expeditionary train to Lapland took place with Linnaeus in 1732. Since he was unable to finance it himself, the university paid for the expedition. The man went to the Scandinavian Peninsula, during the 6-month expedition he studied minerals, animals and plants, and also learned about the life of the local Sami. So as not to miss important discoveries, he walked almost the entire route and only covered some sections on horseback. In addition to a rich collection of samples natural science, the man also brought household items from the indigenous people of this country to Sweden.
Karl submits a report on the expedition to the Uppsala Royal Scientific Society, hoping that his records will be published in full. But this did not happen, and in 1732 the publication published only a short report on the Lapland flora. It was a catalog different types plants.
The article, entitled Florula Lapponica, was the first published work of the scientist, where he talks about the sexual system of plant classification. The scientist divided them into classes and argued that plants have sex, which is determined by pistils and stamens. Karl also divided classes into groups based on the structural features of the pistils. When studying this topic, Linnaeus often made mistakes, but despite this, the system created by the professor aroused interest and played a significant role in the development of science.
An interesting fact is that it was only in 1811 that entries from a man’s diary were first published, where he described his observations of the life of the Sami. There is practically no other information about the way of life of the indigenous peoples of that era, so for contemporaries his records represent great value in the field of ethnography.
In 1735, Karl went to Holland, where he defended his dissertation and received a medical doctorate. From there he rushes to Leiden, where he publishes an essay on the topic “The System of Nature.” Over the course of 2 years of living in a Dutch city, the professor gives birth to many brilliant ideas which he describes in published publications. The scientist divides animal classes into species: birds and mammals, amphibians and fish, worms and insects. It is also noteworthy that he classifies humans as mammals, the invertebrates known in his time fall into the class of worms, and amphibians and reptiles into the class of amphibians.
During this time, the biologist described and classified huge collection plants brought from all over the world. At the same time, publications appeared in the biography of Linnaeus, which subsequently changed biological science and glorified the man among scientists.
The years spent in this country became the most productive in scientific career Carla. During this period he published his main works. Besides scientific works, the man also wrote an autobiography, where he described his life and shared it with readers interesting facts and stories from expeditions.
After returning to Sweden, Linnaeus did not leave its borders; first the man lived in Stockholm, and then moved to Uppsala. Karl worked as a doctor, headed the department of botany, went on expeditions and passed on his knowledge to the younger generation.
Carl Linnaeus made many discoveries in the field of biology and botany. The number of published articles is large; works were published during the scientist’s lifetime and after the death. The professor’s merits were recognized by the state, and his achievements became known far beyond home country.
Personal life
Linnaeus met his future wife Sarah Lisa Morea in Falun. At that time, the girl was 18 years old, her father was a local doctor, the man was educated and had an impressive fortune. 2 weeks after they met, Karl proposes to Lisa, she immediately agrees, and the next day the newlyweds receive the blessing of Lisa’s father.
They decided to postpone the wedding for 3 years, went abroad, and immediately after returning the couple became officially engaged. True, the wedding took place only on next year, the celebration took place in the girl’s family farm.
The Linnaeus had 7 children. The first son was born in 1741, the boy was also named Carl, and as an adult, the man became known as Carl Linnaeus Jr. Two of the family's children died in infancy.
Personal life The scientist's life was successful, he loved his wife, and the feelings were mutual. The man even named his wife and her father by name beautiful flowers from the iris family, growing in southern Africa.
Death
Since 1758, Linnaeus lived with his wife and children on an estate 10 km from Uppsala, where he rested and worked.
In 1774, Linnaeus suffered a stroke (cerebral hemorrhage). Then the doctors saved the man, but his health was not fully restored. He was partially paralyzed, and the professor stopped lecturing. He entrusted this work to his eldest son, while he lived on the estate.
The next blow occurred in the winter, between 1776 and 1777. After the second attack, Karl lost his memory, did not recognize close relatives, and even tried to leave home. The man died in 1778 in Uppsala at the age of 71.
Since during his lifetime the scientist was recognized as an honorary citizen of the city, he was buried in Uppsala cathedral.
After his death, Linnaeus left a huge collection, which included herbariums, as well as an extensive library. All this was inherited by his son Charles Jr., but after the man suddenly died of a heart attack, Linnaeus's widow decided to sell the collection. Despite the objections of representatives scientific world native country of the scientist, the collection was nevertheless sold and taken away. Sweden lost the works of Linnaeus, which were valuable for the development of science.
Bibliography
- 1735 – “System of Nature”
- 1736 – “Botanical Library”
- 1736 – “Fundamentals of Botany”
- 1737 – “Flora of Lapland”
- 1737 – “Genera of Plants”
- 1738 – “Classes of Plants”
- 1745 – “Flora of Sweden”
- 1749 – “Swedish Pan”
- 1751 – “Philosophy of Botany”
- 1753 – “Species of Plants”
Outstanding scientist Karl Linnaeus was born in 1707 in Sweden. The system of classification of the living world brought him the greatest fame. She had and has great value for all biology. The researcher traveled a lot around the world. Carl Linnaeus's contribution to biology is also reflected in the definition of many important concepts and terms.
Childhood and youth
Interest in plants and the whole living world little Karl appeared in early childhood. This was due to the fact that his father tended his own garden on backyard Houses. The child was so interested in plants that it affected his studies. His parents were from families of priests. Both father and mother wanted Karl to become a shepherd. However, the son did not study theology well. Instead he spent his free time for the study of plants.
At first, the parents were wary of their son’s hobbies. However, in the end they agreed that Karl should go to study to become a doctor. In 1727 he ended up at Lund University, and a year later he transferred to Uppsala University, which was larger and more prestigious. There he met Peter Artedi. Young guys have become best friends. Together they began revising existing classification in natural science.
Carl Linnaeus also met Professor Olof Celsius. This meeting had great importance for the beginning scientist. Celsius became his comrade-in-arms and helped in Hard time. The contribution of Carl Linnaeus to biology lies not only in his later, but even in his youthful works. For example, during these years he published his first monograph, which was devoted to the reproductive system of plants.
Naturalist's Travels
In 1732, Carl Linnaeus went to Lapland. This journey was dictated by several goals. The scientist wanted to enrich his knowledge with practical experience. Theoretical works and long studies within the walls of the office could not continue indefinitely.
Lapland is a rugged northern province in Finland, which was part of Sweden at the time. The uniqueness of these lands lay in the rare flora and fauna, unknown to the ordinary European of that era. Linnaeus traveled alone for five months through this distant region, researching plants, animals and minerals. The result of the voyage was a colossal herbarium collected by the naturalist. Many exhibits were unique and unknown to science. Carl Linnaeus began to describe them from scratch. This experience helped him a lot in the future. After the expedition, he published several works on nature, plants, animals, etc. These publications were extremely popular in Sweden. Thanks to Carl Linnaeus, the country was able to learn a lot about itself.
This was also due to the fact that the scientist published ethnographic descriptions of the life and customs of the Sami. An isolated people lived for centuries on Far North, with virtually no contact with the rest of civilization. Many of Linnaeus's notes are especially interesting today, since the original life of the then inhabitants of the North is a thing of the past.
Sami objects, plants, shells and minerals collected on that journey became the basis of the scientist’s extensive collection. It was replenished until his death. Having visited the most different corners world, he collected artifacts everywhere, which he then carefully stored. This is about 19 thousand plants, 3 thousand insects, hundreds of minerals, shells and corals. Such a legacy shows how great the contribution of Carl Linnaeus to biology was (especially for his era).
"System of Nature"
In 1735, the System of Nature was published in the Netherlands. This work of Linnaeus is his main merit and success. He divided nature into several parts and gave order to the classification of the entire living world. Zoological nomenclature, proposed in the tenth lifetime edition of the author, gave the science binomial names. Now they are used everywhere. They are written in Latin and reflect the species and genus of the animal.
Thanks to this book, the systematic method triumphed throughout science (not just zoology or botany). Each Living being received characteristics by which it was assigned to a kingdom (for example, animals), group, genus, species, etc. The contribution of Carl Linnaeus to biology is difficult to overestimate. During the author’s lifetime alone, this book was published 13 times (additions and clarifications were included).
"Plant Species"
As mentioned above, plants were a special passion of the Swedish scientist. Botany was a discipline to which numerous bright researchers devoted their work, including Carl Linnaeus. The contribution to the science of biology of this naturalist is reflected in his book “Plant Species”. It appeared in print in 1753 and was divided into two volumes. The publication became the basis for all subsequent nomenclature in botany.
The book contained detailed descriptions all plant species known to science at that time. Particular attention was paid to the reproductive system (pistils and stamens). In “Plant Species”, binomial nomenclature was used, which was successfully applied in the scientist’s past works. The first edition was followed by a second, on which Carl Linnaeus worked directly. The contributions to biology, briefly described in each textbook, made this science extremely popular. Linnaeus left a galaxy of students who successfully continued the work of their teacher. For example, Karl Wildenov, after the author’s death, supplemented this book, based on the principles developed by the Swedish naturalist. The contribution Carl Linnaeus made to biology is still fundamental to this science today.
last years of life
In the last years of his life, Carl Linnaeus was practically unable to work. In 1774, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, due to which the researcher was partially paralyzed. After the second blow, he lost his memory and died soon after. This happened in 1778. During his lifetime, Linnaeus became a recognized scientist and national pride. He was buried in Uppsala Cathedral, where he studied in his youth.
The scientist’s final work was a multi-volume publication of his lectures for students. Teaching turned out to be an area to which Carl Linnaeus devoted a lot of time and effort. Contribution to biology (everyone knew about it briefly) educated person already during the life of a naturalist) made him an authority in a variety of higher educational institutions Europe.
In addition to his main activity, the researcher also devoted himself to the classification of odors. He based his system on seven main odors, such as cloves, musk, etc. He became the creator of the famous scale, leaving behind an apparatus that showed 100 degrees at the freezing point of water. Zero, on the contrary, meant boiling. Linnaeus, who often used the scale, found this option inconvenient. He turned it around. It is in this form that the scale still exists today. Therefore, the contribution of Carl Linnaeus to the development of biology is not the only thing for which the scientist is famous.
By the 18th century Scientists and nature lovers have done a great job collecting and describing plants and animals all over the world. But it became increasingly difficult to navigate the ocean of information they had accumulated. The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus generalized and systematized this knowledge. He laid the foundations of modern taxonomy.
Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in the family of a village priest. From childhood, Karl’s mother instilled in him a love for all living things, especially flowers.
But to school activities the future president of the Swedish Academy of Sciences remained very indifferent. He was never good at Latin. The teachers said that education was apparently beyond the boy's ability - it would be better to teach him some kind of craft. The angry father decided to send Karl to be trained by a shoemaker.
And a career as a shoemaker would have awaited Liney if a doctor he knew had not persuaded the boy’s father to allow him to study medicine. In addition, he helped Karl finish high school.
Karl studied medicine and biology at the universities of the Swedish cities of Lund and Uppsala. He lived in student years poor.
When Karl turned 25 years old, the leadership of Uppsala University invited him to go on a scientific trip to northern Scandinavia - Lapland to explore its nature. He carried all his luggage on his shoulders. During this journey, he ate whatever he could find, barely got out of the swamps, and fought with mosquitoes. And once he encountered a more serious enemy - a robber who almost killed him. Despite all the obstacles, Linnaeus collected samples of plants from Lapland.
At home, Linnaeus was unable to find a permanent job in his specialty, and for several years he moved to Holland, where he was in charge of one of the best botanical gardens in the country.
Here he got academic degree Doctor, here in 1735 his most famous work, “The System of Nature,” was published. During Linnaeus's lifetime, 12 editions of this book were published. All this time, Linnaeus constantly supplemented it and increased its volume from 14 pages to 3 volumes.
Carl Linnaeus system:
The concept of a species.
In order to “sort out” the huge number of descriptions of plants and animals, some kind of systematic unit was needed. Linnaeus considered species to be such a unit common to all living things. Linnaeus called a species a group of individuals similar to each other, like children of the same parents and their children. A species consists of many similar individuals that produce fertile offspring. For example, wild raspberries are one species, stone fruits are another, and cloudberries are a third type of plant. All domestic cats are one species, tigers are another, lions are a third species of animals. Therefore, the entire organic world consists of various types plants and animals. All Live nature consists, as it were, of separate links - species.
Linnaeus discovered and described about 1,500 species of plants and over 400 species of animals, he distributed all types of plants and animals into large groups - classes, he divided each class into orders, each order into genera. Each genus of Linnaeus was composed of similar species.
Nomenclature.
Linnaeus began to give names to species in the same Latin that was so bad for him in school years. Latin was at that time the international language of science. Thus, Linnaeus resolved a difficult problem: after all, when names were given to different languages, the same species could be described under many names.
A very important achievement of Linnaeus was the introduction into practice of double species names (binary nomenclature). He suggested calling each species in two words. The first is the name of the genus, which includes closely related species. For example, lion, tiger, and domestic cat belong to the genus Felis (Cat). The second word is the name of the species itself (respectively, Felis leo, Felis tigris, Felis do-mestica). In the same way, the species Norway Spruce and Tien Shan (blue) Spruce are combined into the genus Spruce, and the species White Hare and Brown Hare into the genus Hare. Thanks to double nomenclature, the similarity, commonality, and unity of species forming one genus are revealed.
Taxonomy of animals.
Linnaeus divided animals into 6 classes:
Mammals
Amphibians (he placed amphibians and reptiles in this class)
Insects
The “worms” included mollusks, jellyfish, various worms, and all microorganisms (the latter were united by Linnaeus into one single genus - Chaos infusorium).
Linnaeus, quite boldly for his time, placed man (whom he dubbed “reasonable man,” Homo sapiens) in the class of mammals and the order of primates along with monkeys. He did this 120 years before Charles Darwin. He did not believe that humans descended from other primates, but he saw great similarities in their structure.
Plant taxonomy.
Linnaeus approached the systematization of plants in more detail than the systematization of animals. Among plants, he identified 24 classes. Linnaeus understood that the most essential and characteristic part of a plant is the flower. He classified plants with one stamen in a flower as 1st class, with two as 2nd, with three as 3rd, etc. Mushrooms, lichens, algae, horsetails, ferns - in general, everything devoid of flowers ended up in the 24th class ("cryptogamy").
The artificiality of Linnaeus' taxonomy.
Linnaeus' system of plants and animals was largely artificial. Plants that are far from each other (for example, carrots and currants) ended up in the same class only because their flowers have the same number of stamens. Many related plants ended up in different classes. Linnaeus' taxonomy is artificial, also because it helped to recognize plants and animals, but did not reflect the course of the historical development of the world.
Linnaeus was aware of this shortcoming of his system. He believed that future naturalists should create a natural system of plants and animals, which should take into account all the characteristics of organisms, and not just one or two characteristics. Trying to develop a natural plant system, Linnaeus became convinced that the science of that time did not provide the necessary knowledge for this.
Despite its artificiality, Linnaeus' system played positive role in biology. The systematic divisions and dual nomenclature proposed by Linnaeus have become firmly established in science and are used in modern botany and zoology. Later two more divisions were introduced:
Type - the highest division, uniting similar classes;
Family - uniting similar genera
Innovations of Linnaeus.
Carl Linnaeus reformed the botanical language. He was the first to propose such plant names as: corolla, anther, nectary, ovary, stigma, filament, receptacle, perianth. In total, C. Linnaeus introduced about a thousand terms into botany.
Linnaeus' views on nature.
Science at that time was influenced by religion. Linnaeus was an idealist; he argued that in nature there are as many species of plants and animals “as many different forms as the Almighty produced at the beginning of the world.” Linnaeus believed that plant and animal species do not change; they have retained their characteristics “since creation.” According to Linnaeus, every modern species is the offspring of an original divinely created parent pair. Each species reproduces, but retains, in his opinion, unchanged all the features of this ancestral pair.
As a good observer, Linnaeus could not help but see the contradiction between the ideas of the complete immutability of plants and animals with what is observed in nature. He allowed the formation of varieties within a species due to the influence of climate change and other external conditions on organisms.
The idealistic and metaphysical doctrine of creation and the immutability of species dominated biology until early XIX century, until it was refuted as a result of the discovery of many evidences of evolution.