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, Linnaeus's scientific work is much wider. The man is also valued as the creator of the literary Swedish language in its current form. In addition, the scientist contributed to the introduction of the teaching of natural sciences into the system of university education.

Childhood and youth

Carl was born in 1707 in the small Swiss village of Roshult. 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. For some time he studied at Lund University, but without receiving a degree, he was forced to return home. There, the young man gets a job as an assistant to the local pastor, and soon takes the clergy and works as an assistant in the church for the parishioners.

Carl's mother is the daughter of a priest. Karl became the first child of the couple, after him four more children were born in the family. Mother's father, Pastor Brodersonius, dies in the year of the birth of the first grandson. And after 2 years, Nikolaus was appointed a priest, and the family moved to the house where his grandfather lived.

Settling in a new place, the head of the family sets up a garden around the house, plants vegetables, fruits and flowers. Karl from early childhood was inquisitive, interested in the outside world, and especially vegetation. At the age of 8, the boy knew most of the plants in his area. Nikolaus gave his son a small plot next to the house, where Karl planted various seeds, grew flowers and herbs.

Karl received his initial knowledge at the lower grammar school in the city of Växche, in the same one where his father studied, and after 8 years he entered the gymnasium. Since this city was located far from home, Karl could not often visit his family, so he saw his father and mother only on vacation. At school, the boy did not study well, the only subject that the young man coped with was mathematics, but he did not cease to be interested in biology.

Studying was not given to the young man so much that the teachers even offered the parents to transfer their son to learn the craft. At that time, the 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 as a doctor. To do this, Karl had to live with a teacher, he taught individually for the boy. In addition to the main classes, the program also included botany, beloved by the future scientist.

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 in his house. The young man has access to the professor's library. At the same time, he gets acquainted with a personal collection of sea and river inhabitants and a herbarium of plants collected by a teacher in Lund. Stobeus' lectures played an important role in the development of Linnaeus as a botanist.

In 1728 Linnaeus moved to the University of Uppsala. This university provided more opportunities to study medicine under the guidance of talented professors. Students tried to get as much knowledge as possible and in their free time 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. Carl focused on the study of plants. An important stage in the life of Linnaeus was the 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 a difficult financial situation.

Soon the young man wrote the first scientific research work, in which he included the main ideas of the future sexual classification of plants. Among university teachers, the publication aroused considerable interest. The student's scientific work was also appreciated by Rudbeck, Jr., who is a professor at the university, and allowed Carl to teach as a demonstrator in the university's botanical garden.

An expeditionary train to Lapland took place at Linnaeus in 1732. Since he was not able to finance it on his own, the university took over the expedition. The man went to the Scandinavian Peninsula, for 6 months of the expedition he studied minerals, animals and plants, and also learned the life of the local Sami. Not to be missed important discoveries, he walked almost the entire way and only overcame some sections on a horse. In addition to a rich collection of samples of natural science, the man brought to Sweden and household items of the indigenous people of this country.

Carl submits a report on the expedition to the Uppsala Royal Scientific Society, hoping that his notes will be published in full. But this did not happen, and in 1732 the publication published only a short account of 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 classification system of plants. The scientist divided them into classes, 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.

Statue of young Carl Linnaeus

An interesting fact is that only in 1811 was the entry from the man's diary published for the first time, 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, therefore, for contemporaries, his records are of great value in the field of ethnography.

In 1735, Charles 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”. For 2 years of life in a Dutch city, a professor has many brilliant ideas which he describes in published publications. The scientist divides animal classes into types: these are birds and mammals, amphibians and fish, worms and insects. It is also noteworthy that he refers man to mammals, invertebrates known in his time fall into the class of worms, and amphibians and reptiles to amphibians.

During this time, the biologist described and classified a huge collection of 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 Karl's scientific career. During this period, he publishes his main works. In addition to scientific works, the man also wrote an autobiography, where he described life and shared interesting facts and stories from expeditions with readers.

After returning to Sweden, Linnaeus did not leave its borders, at 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, the works were published during his lifetime and after the death of the scientist. The merits of the professor are recognized by the state, and his achievements have become known far beyond the borders of his native 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 young people 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 was played only the next year, the celebration took place in the girl's family farm.

The Linnaeans had 7 children. The first son was born in 1741, the boy was also named Karl, and as an adult, the man became known as Karl Linnaeus Jr. Two children of the family died in infancy.

The personal life of the scientist was successful, he loved his wife, and the feelings were mutual. The man even named the surname of his wife and her father beautiful flowers from the iris family growing in southern Africa.

Death

Since 1758, Linnaeus with his wife and children lived on an estate 10 km from Uppsala, where he rested and worked.

In 1774, Linnaeus suffered a stroke (brain 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 himself lived on the estate.

The next blow happened in the winter, in the period from 1776 to 1777. After the second attack, Karl lost his memory, did not recognize close relatives, and even tried to leave home. A 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 herbaria, as well as an extensive library. All this was inherited by his son Karl Jr., but after the man died suddenly of a heart attack, the widow of Linnaeus 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 - "The System of Nature"
• 1736 - "Botanical Library"
• 1736 - "Fundamentals of Botany"
• 1737 - "Flora of Lapland"
• 1737 - "Plant genera"
• 1738 - "Classes of Plants"
• 1745 - "Flora of Sweden"
• 1749 - "Swedish Pan"
• 1751 - "Philosophy of Botany"
• 1753 - "Plant Species"

Prof. M. L. Rokhlina

“... in the field of biology, they were mainly engaged in the accumulation and first selection of colossal material, both botanical and zoological, as well as anatomical and proper physiological. Comparison of forms of life among themselves, the study of their geographical distribution, their climatological and other conditions, was still out of the question. Here only botany and zoology have reached some completion thanks to Linnaeus.
ENGELS. Dialectic of nature

Carl Linnaeus.

Science and life // Illustrations

General picture of life according to Linnaeus.

Classification based external signs without taking into account phylogeny led the remarkable classifier Linnaeus to a number of gross errors.

Science and life // Illustrations

One of the most striking figures among the learned naturalists of the XVIII century. was Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). In scientific terms, he stands at the turn of two eras. Linnaeus summarized the entire amount of factual knowledge accumulated since the Renaissance, created a taxonomy of the animal and plant world, and thus, as it were, completed the biology of the metaphysical period. The era of Linnaeus is characterized by two ideas: the recognition of the “creative act” that created the living world, and at the same time the idea of ​​the immutability, constancy of species and their hierarchy, their gradual complication, the idea that saw in the expedient structure of organisms a single plan, imbued with the “wisdom of the creator”.

The prevailing belief was that "Natura non faclt saltus" ("nature does not make leaps").

Engels writes that the period under consideration is especially characterized by "the formation of a single, integral worldview, the center of which is the doctrine of the absolute immutability of nature" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature).

Linnaeus went down in history as the creator of the metaphysical taxonomy of animals and plants, as the author of the formula "there are as many species as they came out of the hands of the creator," a formula he expressed in the first edition of The System of Nature (1735).

Linnaeus was an encyclopedically educated scientist with exceptional memory and powers of observation, and with what was said to be a "systematic streak." Linnaeus systematizes everything - minerals, animals, plants and even diseases (for example, to the first scientific work on medicinal plants “Materia medica”, published by him in 1749, Linnaeus attached the “Catalogue of Diseases”, and indicated how to treat each disease).

But at the same time, Linnaeus was a contemporary of K. F. Wolf, about whom Engels wrote:

“It is characteristic that almost simultaneously with Kant’s attack on the doctrine of the eternity of the solar system, in 1759 K. Wolf made the first attack on the theory of the constancy of species, proclaiming the doctrine of their development” (Engels. D.P.).

In the midst of Linnaeus's scientific work, the works of the great French materialists La Mettrie, Diderot and others are published, in which the ideas of transformism (evolution) of species are expressed. Finally, a contemporary of Linnaeus was Buffon, who, contrary to the prevailing worldview, expressed the idea of ​​a historical connection in nature and said that animals themselves have a history and, perhaps, are able to change.

Thus, the idea of ​​the variability of species already appeared in the sphere of scientific problems of the 18th century, and, naturally, this could not pass by Linnaeus. He had a brilliant knowledge of fauna and flora and could not fail to see transitional, changing species. Therefore, it is no coincidence that “Linnaeus already made a big concession when he said that due to crossing in places new species could arise” (Engels D.P.). In a number of his last works, Linnaeus speaks directly about the variability of species. Thus, during his almost 50 years of scientific activity, he evolved to some extent; it is also no coincidence that the phrase "there are as many species as they came from the hands of the creator" is absent from the 10th edition of the System of Nature, which appeared shortly before the death of Linnaeus. These facts need to be emphasized, since the opinion that Linnaeus stood strictly on the point of view of the permanence of species is widely held. It can be seen from Linnaeus's letters that his insufficiently decisive statements are partly due to the influence of the social environment, in particular, the professorship of Uppsala University, where Linnaeus occupied the chairs of disease diagnostics, pharmacognosy, dietetics and natural sciences for 36 years (1741-1777).

At the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the laying of sea trade routes begins, the conquest of previously unknown countries, from which numerous and diverse animals and plants were brought to Europe. Throughout Europe in the 16th and then in the 17th century. botanical gardens are created, which become scientific centers. This era is also characterized by an increased interest in ancient Greek scientists and philosophers.

The systematic description of the animal and plant world, as it is found in Aristotle, Theophrist, Dioscorides, and others, is supplemented and expanded by new botanical and zoological material. There is a need to systematize and classify the huge material that this era provides - a necessity arising from practical interests: “the main task ... was to cope with the material available” (Engels, D.P.). Strictly speaking, only from the XVI century. the first foundations of systematic science begin to be laid. Since that time, a number of works have appeared that try to build classification schemes and tables on different principles. The historical merit of Linnaeus lies precisely in the fact that he completes these numerous attempts, creating the largest simple and perfect system for that time.

“The crown and, probably, the last word of such a classification was, and still has not been surpassed in its elegant simplicity, the system vegetable kingdom proposed by Linnaeus ”(K. A. Timiryazev).

The main merits of Linnaeus are as follows:

1. He created a very simple and convenient system of taxonomic units (class, order, family, genus, species), subordinate to one another.

2. Classified an animal according to his system and vegetable world.

3. Established the species definition for plants and animals.

4. Introduced a double nomenclature to designate species, i.e. generic and specific Latin names, and established such names for animals and plants known to him.

Thus, since the time of Linnaeus, every animal or plant organism has been designated by two Latin names, the name of the genus to which the given animal belongs, and the name of the species; they are usually joined in an abbreviated form by the name of the researcher who first described the given organism.

So for example, an ordinary wolf is designated - Canis lupus L; where the word Canis denotes a genus (dog) - the word lupus is a species (wolf) and the letter L is the surname of the author (Linnaeus), who first described this species.

Similar species according to the Linnaean system are combined into genera (so the wolf, jackal, fox, domestic dog united in the dog genus). Similar genera are combined into families (so the wolf belongs to the canine family); families are united into orders (for example, the canine family belongs to the order of carnivores), orders - into classes (for example, carnivores belong to the class of mammals), classes - into types (mammals belong to the type of chordates).

K. A. Timiryazev emphasizes the importance of binary nomenclature in the following words:

“Just as national literatures especially honor the creators of their language, so the universal language of descriptive natural science should honor its creator in Linnaeus.”

Linnaeus, however, was reproached that his Latin was “not quite Ciceronian,” but Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an ardent admirer of Linnaeus, objected to this: “But it was free for Cicero not to know botany” (according to Timiryazev).

One should not think that everything introduced by Linnaeus was invented by him. So, even John Ray introduced the concept of a species, the binary nomenclature is found in Rivinus and Baugin, and Adanson and Tournefort before Linnaeus combined similar species into genera, etc. However, Linnaeus’s merit does not decrease from this, since his role lies in the fact that he combined all this into a single whole, choosing what corresponded to the creation of harmonious systems of the plant and animal world. Linnaeus himself characterized the meaning of the system in the following way: “The system is Ariadne’s thread of botany; without it, the herbarium business turns into chaos.”

Systema naturae, a work by Linnaeus, appeared in 1735. The first edition appeared as a 12-page synopsis on all three kingdoms of nature, while the last edition appeared in 12 volumes.

Speaking about the works of Linnaeus on systematics, it is impossible not to touch on his other most important works. In 1751, his “Philosophy of Botany” was published, in which the doctrine of the species was set out and in which Liney first applied binary nomenclature, Jean Jacques Rousseau characterized this work as the most philosophical of all that he knows. In 1753, one of the most important works of Linnaeus was published: “Species plautarum” (“Plant Species”), which for the first time gives a complete systematic of the entire plant world known at that time. Speaking of Linnaeus's views on taxonomy, constancy of species, etc., we will have to touch on all three of these works in parallel.

In our brief essay, we will be interested in two questions: 1) the evaluation of the Linnaean system in terms of natural and artificial classification, and 2) Linnaeus's attitude to the ideas of the constancy and variability of species.

Linnaeus himself considered his system as artificial and believed that it should be replaced by a natural system. Classifications before Linnaeus were purely artificial and had a random, arbitrary character. So, one of the first classifications of animals was compiled alphabetically, there were classifications of plants according to their signature (i.e., according to their medicinal value), some scientists (Rey, Tournefort) classified plants according to the corolla, others according to seeds (Cesalpin) or according to fruits ( Gertner). It is clear that all these taxonomists artificially combined the most diverse species according to some one taken arbitrary sign, and the need for a natural classification according to the degree of similarity, kinship between certain types. A natural classification, unlike an artificial one, is based not on any one arbitrarily chosen trait, but on the basis of a combination of the most important morphophysiological properties, and tries to establish a genetic relationship between different species in the sense of a unity of origin. The Linnaean classification represents a significant step forward compared to all classifications that existed before it. But there is a great difference between his classification of the animal world and the classification of the plant world in regard to their approximation to the natural classification. Consider first the classification of animals.

Linnaeus took the heart of animals as the main feature for classification and divided it into six classes.

This division into six classes represented a significant step forward, refinement and approximation to the natural classification. But at the same time, it contained a number of errors: for example, both reptiles and amphibians were classified as amphibians, and all invertebrates were combined into two classes - worms and insects. The division of classes into detachments contained a number of gross errors, which Linnaeus himself knew and constantly corrected. Thus, the class of mammals was first divided into 7 orders or orders, and the latter were divided into 47 genera; in the 8th Linnaean edition there were 8 orders and 39 genera of mammals, and in the 12th edition there were 8 orders and 40 roles.

Linnaeus approached the division into orders and genera already purely formally, sometimes taking into account one particular feature, such as teeth, and therefore the arrangement of species according to orders is artificial. Along with a very faithful combination of closely related species, he often combined animals that were far from each other into one order or, conversely, distributed close, related species into different orders. So, for the first time in science, Linnaeus united the primate detachment: man, monkeys (higher and lower) and lemurs, but at the same time he mistakenly added a bat to the same place.

The characteristics of the order of primates are as follows: “The front teeth have 4 in the upper jaw, which stand parallel to each other; the fangs stand apart from the others; nipples, of which they have two, lie on the chest, legs - similar to hands - with rounded flat nails. The front legs are separated by the clavicles; they feed on fruits for which they climb trees.

The characteristic of the first genus of the primate order is given as follows: “genus I. Man, Homo, has a direct vertical position, moreover, the female sex has a hymen and monthly cleansing.” Homo (man) is a generic name, and Linnaeus assigns man and the great apes to this genus. In this association of man with anthropoid apes, Linnaeus's great courage for that time was expressed. The attitude of his contemporaries to this can be judged from the letter of Linnaeus to Gmelin:

“It is objectionable that I place man among the anthropomorphic, but man knows himself. Let's leave the words, it doesn't matter to me what name we use, but I ask you and the whole world the generic difference between man and ape, which (would follow) from the foundations of natural history. I most definitely don't know any; if someone pointed out to me at least one thing ... If I called a person a monkey, or, on the contrary, all theologians would attack me. Maybe I should have done it on the duty of science. Further, Linnaeus attributed the rhinoceros, elephant, walrus, sloth, anteater and armadillo to the second order Bruta (heavy animals), uniting them on the basis of the following features: “they have no front teeth at all, legs are equipped with strong nails. The gait is quiet, heavy. They mostly feed on fruits and crush their food. Of the listed animals modern classification the sloth, armadillo and anteater belong to the order of the edentulous (Edentata), the elephant to the order of the proboscis (Proboscidea), the rhinoceros to the order of the odd-toed ungulates (Peryssodactyla) and the walrus to the order of the carnivores (Cagnivora), suborder of the pinnipeds (Pinnipedia).

If Linnaeus combined the genera belonging to four different orders into one order of “heavy” (Bruta), then at the same time the genera belonging to the same order according to the modern natural classification (for example, walrus and seal) fell into different orders (walrus to heavy, seal to animals).

Thus, the Linnaean classification of animals, despite its undeniable positive value, consisting primarily in the fact that it provided a system that scientists could later use, was artificial. Nevertheless, for its time, of course, it played a very important role and was a significant approximation to the natural system in comparison with all previous classifications.

The Linnean classification of plants was more artificial, although it was distinguished by the greatest simplicity and convenience. Line based it on the structure of the reproductive system (the number of stamens and pistils, whether they grow together or remain free). In constructing this system, he proceeded from his law of constancy of numbers, according to which each plant individual is distinguished by a certain number of flower parts (stamens and pistils). According to these characteristics, he divided all plants into 24 classes (i.e., he artificially divided plants according to one characteristic). In turn, the classes were divided into 68 units.

When dividing plants into orders, Linnaeus managed to create a more natural system, almost unchanged in the future. But when asked why he divided plants into groups (orders), Linnaeus referred to “a certain intuitive feeling, a hidden instinct of a naturalist: I cannot give a basis for my orders,” he said, “but those who come after follow me, find these grounds and make sure that I was right. But still, in the taxonomy of plants, Linnaeus did not avoid mistakes. So, according to the number of stamens (2), he combined into one class such distant plants as lilac and one of the cereals - the golden spikelet.

In § 30 of the Philosophy of Botany (p. 170, ed., 1801), Linnaeus writes: “The marriage system (Systema sexuale) is that which is based on the male and female parts of the flower. All plants according to this system are divided into classes (classes), categories (ordines), sub-categories (Subordines), genera (genera), species (species). Classes are the main plant distinctions based on the number, proportionality of the position and connection of the stamens ... The order is the subdivision of the class, so that where a large number of species are to be dealt with, they do not escape our attention, and the mind easily catches them. It’s easier, after all, to cope with 10 births than with 100 at once ...

... Species (spesies) are units that are contained in the genus as descended from seeds, remain forever the same.

In the last sentence, Linnaeus asserts the constancy of species. In this work, which outlines the basic principles and views of Linnaeus, he metaphysically develops the ideas of his era about the immutability and isolation of species and genera, of which there are as many as "how many God created them." The disciples of Linnaeus were already talking about the variability of species. Thus, Greberg, in the collection of works of his students Amoenitates academicae (Academic Leisures, 19 volumes of dissertations), published in 1749 by Linnaeus, openly suggests that all species of the same genus used to be one species; at the same time, he sees the cause of variability in crossing. The biographers of Linnaeus (for example, Komarov) can be found doubting whether Linnaeus shared this point of view; he is considered firmly ostensibly convinced of the permanence of forms. But in Species plantarum, published in 1753, that is, only two years after the Philosophy of Botany, there are quite clear statements about the variability of species; At the same time, it is especially interesting that Linnaeus sees the cause of variability not only in crossings (like Greberg), but also in the influence of the external environment. Thus, on pp. 546-547, Linnaeus describes two species of Thalictrum: F. flavum and T. lucidum; while about T. lucidura he writes: “Is the plant different enough from T. flavum? “It seems to be the daughter of time.” He goes on to describe a species of Achillea ptarmica from the temperate zone of Europe and another species of Achillea alpina from Siberia, and concludes with the following suggestion: "Could not the place (i.e., external conditions) form this species from the previous one?"

Even more direct indications of the origin of species (not varieties) from others are contained in the second, corrected and supplemented edition of the book Species of Plants. Thus, on p. 322 he writes of Beta vulgaris: "It may have originated in foreign countries from Beta maritima." Regarding Clematis maritima, Linnaeus writes: “Magnol and Rey regard it as a variety of Clematis flanimula. In my opinion, it is better to consider it (derived) from Clematis recta under the influence of changes in the soil.

One could give many more examples of Linnaeus's perfectly clear statements about the origin of various species from other species under the influence of the external environment. I think that the foregoing quite clearly indicates a significant evolution of Linnaeus's views.

In fact, it would be difficult to expect anything else from a scientist who possessed the personal qualities of Linnaeus - exceptional erudition and memory, the title of the most diverse species and absolutely outstanding powers of observation. Linnaeus wrote about himself: Lyux faritalpa domi (“a lynx in the field, a mole in the house”), that is, if he is blind at home, like a mole, on excursions he is vigilant and observant, like a lynx.

Thanks to correspondence with botanists from all over the world, Linnaeus collected plants from all over the world in the Botanical Garden at Uppsala University and perfectly knew the flora known at that time. Naturally, his views on the immutability of species had to be revised. And only, perhaps, the well-known fear of public opinion and attacks from theologians explains the fact that in the "Philosophy of Botany", published in 1751, that is, just two years before the "Species of Plants" (and two years after "Academic leisure", where his students write about variability), his views did not find a clear expression. On the other hand, the possibility is not ruled out that later, during the period of struggle around the evolutionary idea, its opponents used the authority of Linnaeus, relying on his early works and creating for him the glory of a consistent metaphysician; now it is necessary, as it were, to protect the scientific reputation of Linnaeus, restoring his true views and their evolution over the course of almost 50 years of his scientific activity.

But, of course, if in the second half of his scientific activity he allowed the variability of individual species, their origin from other species, this does not mean that he stood on the point of view of the evolution of the organic world, since, apparently, regarding genera he was convinced that "the constancy of childbirth is the basis of botany."

At the same time, Linnaeus, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, provided material for proving and substantiating the evolutionary idea, since he approached the creation of a natural classification of plants and animals known to him, which was then created by the works of Jussieu, De- Kandolya and others. Natural classification, asserting the genetic connection of organic forms, develops into an evolutionary doctrine, is, as it were, the basis for it. The dialectical course of the development of science is clearly seen in this example. Scientists who were looking for and trying to create a natural classification - and John Ray, and Linnaeus, and Cuvier - did not themselves share the idea of ​​evolution or, like Cuvier, for example, even actively fought against it. Nevertheless, their work on the creation of a natural classification system that establishes the relationship of species to each other, the origin of species from the same genus, etc., naturally led to the conclusion about the variability of species and, further, about the evolution of the organic world. This explains that the natural classification appears before the evolutionary doctrine, and not after it, and that it represents, as it were, one of the sources and one of the proofs of the idea of ​​evolution.

Engels wrote about the development of biology: “The deeper this research penetrated, the more precisely it was done, the more this frozen system (of immutable species, genera, classes, kingdoms) of immutable organic nature blurred under the hands. Not only did the boundaries between individual species of plants and animals disappear hopelessly, but animals appeared, like amphiox and lopidosiren, which just mocked all the classifications that existed before ”(“ D.P. ”). And further: “But it is precisely these seemingly insoluble and irreconcilable polar opposites, these hereditarily fixed boundaries of classification, that have given modern theoretical natural science a limited metaphysical character. The recognition that these opposites and differences in nature have only a relative significance, that, on the contrary, the immobility and absoluteness attributed to nature are introduced into it only by our reflection - this recognition constitutes the main point of the dialectical understanding of nature.

Thus, the work done by Liney played a colossal role in the development of natural science in the 18th century.

Moscow, 13/IV 1936

CARL LINNEUS

Carl Linnaeus, the famous Swedish naturalist, was born in Sweden, in the village of Rozgult, on May 23, 1707. He was of an humble family, his ancestors were simple peasants; father, Nils Linneus, was a poor country priest. The year after the birth of his son, he received a more profitable parish in Stenbroghult, where Carl Linnaeus spent his entire childhood until the age of ten.

My father was a great lover of flowers and gardening; in the picturesque Stenbroghult he planted a garden, which soon became the first in the whole province. This garden and his father's studies, of course, played a significant role in the spiritual development of the future founder of scientific botany. The boy was given a special corner in the garden, several beds, where he was considered a complete master; they were called so - "Karl's garden."

When the boy was ten years old, he was sent to an elementary school in the town of Vexiyo. The gifted child's schoolwork was going badly; he continued to engage in botany with enthusiasm, and the preparation of lessons was tiring for him. The father was about to take the young man from the gymnasium, but the case pushed him into contact with the local doctor Rotman. He was a good friend of the head of the school where Linnaeus began his studies, and from him he knew about the exceptional talents of the boy. At Rotman, the classes of the “underachieving” schoolboy went better. The doctor began to gradually introduce him to medicine and even - contrary to the teachers' reviews - made him fall in love with Latin.

After graduating from high school, Karl enters Lund University, but soon moves from there to one of the most prestigious universities in Sweden - Uppsala. Linnaeus was only 23 years old when the professor of botany Olof Celsius took him to be his assistant, after which he himself, while still a student. Carl began teaching at the university. The journey through Lapland became very important for the young scientist. Linnaeus walked almost 700 kilometers, collected significant collections, and as a result published his first book, Flora of Lapland.

In the spring of 1735, Linnaeus arrived in Holland, in Amsterdam. In the small university town of Garderwick, he passed the exam and on June 24 he defended his dissertation on a medical topic - about fever, which he wrote back in Sweden. The immediate goal of his journey was reached, but Charles remained. He remained, fortunately for himself and for science: the rich and highly cultured Holland served as the cradle for his ardent creative activity and his resounding fame.

One of his new friends, Dr. Gronov, suggested that he publish some work; then Linnaeus compiled and printed the first draft of his famous work, which laid the foundation for systematic zoology and botany in the modern sense. This was the first edition of his "Systema naturae", containing only 14 pages of a huge format, on which they were grouped in the form of tables. short descriptions minerals, plants and animals. With this edition, a series of rapid scientific successes of Linnaeus begins.

In his new works, published in 1736-1737, his main and most fruitful ideas were already contained in a more or less finished form - a system of generic and specific names, improved terminology, an artificial system of the plant kingdom.

At this time, he received a brilliant offer to become the personal physician of George Cliffort with a salary of 1000 guilders and a full allowance. Cliffort was one of the directors of the East India Company (which then prospered and filled Holland with wealth) and mayor of the city of Amsterdam. And most importantly, Cliffort was a passionate gardener, a lover of botany and the natural sciences in general. In his estate Gartekampe, near Harlem, there was a garden famous in Holland, in which, regardless of costs and tirelessly, he was engaged in the cultivation and acclimatization of foreign plants - plants of Southern Europe, Asia, Africa, America. At the garden, he had both herbariums and a rich botanical library. All this contributed to the scientific work of Linnaeus.

Despite the successes that surrounded Linnaeus in Holland, little by little he began to pull home. In 1738, he returned to his homeland and faced unexpected problems. He, accustomed for three years of living abroad to universal respect, friendship and signs of attention of the most prominent and famous people, at home, in his homeland, was just a doctor without a job, without practice and without money, and no one cared about his scholarship . So Linnaeus the botanist gave way to Linnaeus the physician, and his favorite activities were abandoned for a while.

However, already in 1739, the Swedish Diet assigned him one hundred ducats of annual maintenance with the obligation to teach botany and mineralogy. At the same time, he was given the title of "royal botanist". In the same year, he received a position as Admiralty doctor in Stockholm: this position opened up a wide scope for his medical activities.

Finally, he found an opportunity to marry, and on June 26, 1739, a five-year-delayed wedding took place. Alas, as is often the case with people of outstanding talent, his wife was the exact opposite of her husband. An ill-mannered, rude and quarrelsome woman, without intellectual interests, she valued only the material side in the brilliant activity of her husband; she was a housewife, a cook wife. In economic matters, she held power in the house and in this respect had a bad influence on her husband, developing in him a tendency to avarice. There was a lot of sadness in their relationship in the family. Linnaeus had one son and several daughters; the mother loved her daughters, and they grew up under her influence as uneducated and petty girls of a bourgeois family. To her son, a gifted boy, the mother had a strange antipathy, pursued him in every possible way and tried to turn her father against him. The latter, however, she did not succeed: Linnaeus loved his son and passionately developed in him those inclinations for which he himself suffered so much in childhood.

In a short period of his life in Stockholm, Linnaeus took part in the founding of the Stockholm Academy of Sciences. It originated as a private community of several persons, and the original number of its actual members was only six. At its first meeting, Linnaeus was appointed president by lot.

In 1742, Linnaeus's dream came true and he became a professor of botany at his native university. The botanical department in Uppsala acquired under Linnaeus an extraordinary brilliance, which she never had either before or after. The rest of his life was spent in this city almost without a break. He occupied the department for more than thirty years and left it only shortly before his death.

His financial position becomes strong; he has the good fortune to see the complete triumph of his scientific ideas, the rapid spread and universal recognition of his teachings. The name of Linnaeus was considered among the first names of that time: people like Rousseau treated him with respect. External successes and honors rained down on him from all sides. In that age - the age of enlightened absolutism and patrons - scientists were in vogue, and Linnaeus was one of those advanced minds of the last century, on which the courtesies of sovereigns rained down.

The scientist bought himself a small estate Gammarba near Uppsala, where he spent the summer in the last 15 years of his life. Foreigners who came to study under his guidance rented apartments for themselves in a nearby village.

Of course, now Linnaeus ceased to be engaged in medical practice, he was engaged only in scientific research. He described all known at that time medicinal plants and studied the effect of medicines made from them. It is interesting that these studies, which seemed to fill all his time, Linnaeus successfully combined with others. It was at this time that he invented the thermometer, using the Celsius temperature scale.

But the main business of his life, Linnaeus still considered the systematization of plants. The main work "The System of Plants" took as much as 25 years, and only in 1753 did he publish his main work.

The scientist decided to systematize the entire plant world of the Earth. At the time when Linnaeus began his work, zoology was in a period of exceptional predominance of systematics. The task that she then set herself was simply to get acquainted with all the breeds of animals living on the globe, without regard to their internal structure and to the connection of individual forms with each other; the subject of zoological writings of that time was a simple enumeration and description of all known animals.

Thus, zoology and botany of that time were mainly concerned with the study and description of species, but boundless confusion reigned in their recognition. The descriptions that the author gave of new animals or plants were usually inconsistent and inaccurate. The second main shortcoming of the then science was the lack of a more or less tolerable and accurate classification.

These basic shortcomings of systematic zoology and botany were corrected by the genius of Linnaeus. Remaining on the same ground of the study of nature, on which his predecessors and contemporaries stood, he was a powerful reformer of science. Its merit is purely methodological. He did not discover new areas of knowledge and hitherto unknown laws of nature, but he created a new method, clear, logical, and with the help of it brought light and order to where chaos and confusion reigned before him, which gave a huge impetus to science, paving the way in a powerful way for further research. This was a necessary step in science, without which further progress would not have been possible.

The scientist proposed a binary nomenclature - a system of scientific naming of plants and animals. Based on the structural features, he divided all plants into 24 classes, also highlighting separate genera and species. Each name, in his opinion, should have consisted of two words - generic and specific designations.

Despite the fact that the principle applied by him was rather artificial, it turned out to be very convenient and became generally accepted in scientific classification, retaining its significance in our time. But in order for the new nomenclature to be fruitful, it was necessary that the species that received the conditional name, at the same time, be so accurately and in detail described that they could not be confused with other species of the same genus. Linnaeus did just that: he was the first to introduce a strictly defined, precise language and a precise definition of features into science. In his essay "Fundamental Botany", published in Amsterdam during his life with Cliffort and which was the result of seven years of work, the foundations of the botanical terminology that he used to describe plants are outlined.

The zoological system of Linnaeus did not play such a major role in science as the botanical one, although in some respects it was even higher than it, as less artificial, but it did not represent its main advantages - convenience in determining. Linnaeus had little knowledge of anatomy.

The works of Linnaeus gave a huge impetus to the systematic botany of zoology. The developed terminology and convenient nomenclature made it easier to cope with a huge amount of material that had previously been so difficult to understand. Soon all classes of the plant and animal kingdom were systematically studied, and the number of described species increased from hour to hour.

Later, Linnaeus applied his principle to the classification of all nature, in particular, minerals and rocks. He also became the first scientist to classify humans and apes as the same group of animals, primates. As a result of his observations, the naturalist compiled another book - "The System of Nature". He worked on it all his life, from time to time republishing his work. In total, the scientist prepared 12 editions of this work, which gradually turned from a small book into a voluminous multi-volume edition.

The last years of Linnaeus's life were overshadowed by senility and illness. He died on January 10, 1778, at the age of seventy-one.

After his death, the chair of botany at Uppsala University was given to his son, who zealously set about continuing his father's work. But in 1783 he suddenly fell ill and died at the age of forty-two. The son was not married, and with his death, the lineage of Linnaeus in the male generation ceased.

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Carl Linnaeus

(1707-1778)

Carl Linnaeus, the famous Swedish naturalist, was born in Sweden on May 13, 1707. He was of an humble family, his ancestors were simple peasants; father was a poor country priest. The next year after the birth of his son, he received a more profitable parish in Stenbroghult, the year and the whole childhood of Carl Linnaeus passed until the age of ten.

My father was a great lover of flowers and gardening; in the picturesque Stenbroghult he planted a garden, which soon became the first in the whole province. This garden and his father's studies, of course, played a significant role in the spiritual development of the future founder of scientific botany. The boy was given a special corner in the garden, several beds, where he was considered a complete master; they were called so - "Karl's garden"

When the boy was 10 years old, he was sent to an elementary school in the city of Vexie. The gifted child's schoolwork was going badly; he continued to engage in botany with enthusiasm, and the preparation of lessons was tiring for him. The father was going to take the young man from the gymnasium, but the case pushed him into contact with the local doctor Rotman. At Rotman, the classes of the “underachieving” gymnasium went better. The doctor began to gradually introduce him to medicine and even - contrary to the teachers' reviews - made him fall in love with Latin.

After graduating from high school, Karl enters Lund University, but soon moves from there to one of the most prestigious universities in Sweden - Uppsala. Linnaeus was only 23 years old when the professor of botany Oluas Celzki took him as his assistant, after which, while still a student, Karl began teaching at the university. The journey through Lapland became very important for the young scientist. Linnaeus walked almost 700 kilometers, collected significant collections, and as a result published his first book, Flora of Lapland.

In the spring of 1735, Linnaeus arrived in Holland, in Amsterdam. In the small university town of Gardquick, he passed the exam and on June 24 he defended his dissertation on a medical topic - about fever. The immediate goal of his journey was reached, but Charles remained. He remained, fortunately for himself and for science: the rich and highly cultured Holland served as the cradle for his ardent creative activity and his resounding fame.

One of his new friends, Dr. Gronov, suggested that he publish some work; then Linnaeus compiled and printed the first draft of his famous work, which laid the foundation for systematic zoology and botany in the modern sense. This was the first edition of his "Systema naturae", containing only 14 huge pages for the time being, on which brief descriptions of minerals, plants and animals were grouped in the form of tables. With this edition, a series of rapid scientific successes of Linnaeus begins.

In his new works, published in 1736-1737, his main and most fruitful ideas were already contained in a more or less finished form: a system of generic and specific names, improved terminology, an artificial system of the plant kingdom.

At this time, he received a brilliant offer to become the personal physician of George Cliffort with a salary of 1000 guilders and a full allowance.

Despite the successes that surrounded Linnaeus in Holland, little by little he began to pull home. In 1738, he returns to his homeland and encounters unexpected problems. He, accustomed for three years of living abroad to universal respect, friendship and signs of attention of the most prominent and famous people, at home, in his homeland, was just a doctor without a job, without practice and without money, and no one cared about his scholarship . So Linnaeus the botanist gave way to Linnaeus the doctor, and his favorite activities were stopped for a while.

However, already in 1739, the Swedish Diet assigned him one hundred lukats of annual maintenance with the obligation to teach botany and mineralogy.

Finally, he found an opportunity to marry, and on June 26, 1739, a five-year-delayed wedding took place. Alas, as is often the case, his wife was the exact opposite of her husband. An ill-mannered, rude and quarrelsome woman, without intellectual interests, who was only interested in the financial aspects of her husband. Linnaeus had one son and several daughters; the mother loved her daughters, and they grew up under her influence as uneducated and petty girls of a bourgeois family. To her son, a gifted boy, the mother had a strange antipathy, pursued him in every possible way and tried to turn her father against him. But Linnaeus loved his son and passionately developed in him those inclinations for which he himself suffered so much in childhood.

In 1742, Linnaeus's dream came true and he became a professor of botany at his native university. The rest of his life was spent in this city almost without a break. He occupied the department for more than thirty years and left it only shortly before his death.

Now Linnaeus ceased to engage in medical practice, was engaged only in scientific research. He described all medicinal plants known at that time and studied the effect of medicines made from them.

During this time, he invented the thermometer using the Celsius temperature scale.

But the main business of his life, Linnaeus still considered the systematization of plants. The main work "The System of Plants" took 25 years, and only in 1753 did he publish his main work.

The scientist decided to systematize the entire plant world of the Earth. At the time when Liney began his career, zoology was in a period of exceptional predominance of taxonomy. The task that she then set herself was simply to get acquainted with all the breeds of animals living on the globe, without regard to their internal structure and to the connection of individual forms with each other; the subject of zoological writings of that time was a simple enumeration and description of all known animals.

Thus, zoology and botany of that time were mainly concerned with the study and description of species, but boundless confusion reigned in their recognition. The descriptions that the author gave of new animals or plants were inconsistent and inaccurate. The second main shortcoming of the then science was the lack of a more or less basic and precise classification.

These basic shortcomings of systematic zoology and botany were corrected by the genius of Linnaeus. Remaining on the same ground of the study of nature, on which his predecessors and contemporaries stood, he was a powerful reformer of science. Its merit is purely methodical. He did not discover new areas of knowledge and hitherto unknown laws of nature, but he created a new method, clear, logical. And with the help of it, he brought light and order to where chaos and confusion reigned before him, which gave a huge impetus to science, paving the way for further research in a powerful way. This was a necessary step in science, without which further progress would not have been possible.

The scientist proposed a binary nomenclature - a system of scientific naming of plants and animals. Based on the structural features, he divided all plants into 24 classes, also highlighting separate genera and species. Each name, in his opinion, should have consisted of two words - generic and specific designations.

Despite the fact that the principle applied by him was rather artificial, it turned out to be very convenient and became generally pleasant in scientific classification, retaining its significance in our time. But in order for the new nomenclature to be fruitful, it was necessary for the new nomenclature to be fruitful, it was necessary that the species that received the conditional name, at the same time, be so accurately and in detail described that they could not be confused with other species of the same kind. Linnaeus did just that: he was the first to introduce a strictly defined, precise language and a precise definition of features into science.

In his essay "Fundamental Botany", published in Amsterdam during his life with Cliffort and which was the result of seven years of work, the foundations of the botanical terminology that he used to describe plants are outlined.

The zoological system of Linnaeus did not play such a major role in science as the botanical one, although in some respects it was higher than it, as less artificial, but it did not represent its main advantages - convenience in determining. Linnaeus had little knowledge of anatomy.

Linnaeus' work gave a huge impetus to systematic botany and zoology. The developed terminology and convenient nomenclature made it easier to cope with a huge amount of material that had previously been so difficult to understand. Soon all classes of the plant and animal kingdom were systematically studied, and the number of described species increased from hour to hour.

Linnaeus later applied his principle to the classification of all nature, in particular minerals and rocks. He also became the first scientist to classify humans and apes as the same group of animals, primates. As a result of his observations, the naturalist compiled another book - "The System of Nature". He worked on it all his life, from time to time republishing his work. In total, the scientist prepared 12 editions of this work, which gradually turned from a small book into a voluminous multi-volume publication.

The last years of Linnaeus's life were overshadowed by senility and illness. He died on January 10, 1778, at the age of seventy-one.

After his death, the chair of botany at Uppsala University was given to his son, who zealously set about continuing his father's work. But in 1783 he suddenly fell ill and died at the age of forty-two. The son was not married, and with his death, the lineage of Linnaeus in the male generation ceased.

Carl Linnaeus (Swedish Carl Linnaeus, Carl Linné, lat. Carolus Linnaeus, after receiving the nobility in 1761 - Carl von Linné; May 23, 1707, Roshult - January 10, 1778, Uppsala) - Swedish naturalist and physician, creator of a unified system of plant and of the animal world, which generalized and largely streamlined the biological knowledge of the entire previous period and even during his lifetime brought him worldwide fame. One of the main merits of Linnaeus was the definition of the concept of a biological species, the introduction of the active use of binomial (binary) nomenclature and the establishment of a clear subordination between systematic (taxonomic) categories.

Linnaeus is the most famous Swedish naturalist. In Sweden, he is also valued as a traveler who opened their own country for the Swedes, studied the peculiarities of the Swedish provinces and saw "how one province can help another." The value for the Swedes is not so much Linnaeus's work on the flora and fauna of Sweden, as his descriptions of his own travels; these diary entries, full of specifics, rich in contrasts, set out in clear language, are still being republished and read. Linnaeus is one of those figures of science and culture who are associated with the final formation of the literary Swedish language in its modern form.

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1739, one of the founders of the academy), the Paris Academy of Sciences (1762) and a number of other scientific societies and academies.

early years

Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in southern Sweden - in the village of Roshult in the province of Småland. His father is Nils Ingemarsson Linnaeus (Swedish Nicolaus (Nils) Ingemarsson Linnæus, 1674-1748), a village priest, the son of a peasant; mother - Christina Linnæa (Linne), nee Brodersonia (Swedish: Christina Linnæa (Brodersonia), 1688-1733), daughter of a village priest. The surname Linnaeus (Linnæus) is the Latinized Swedish name for the linden tree (Lind): when Nils Ingemarsson went to study at Lund University, he, according to the custom of that time, replaced his real surname with a Latin pseudonym, choosing as it a word associated with the Ingemarsson family symbol - a large three-barreled linden who grew up on the lands of his ancestors in the parish of Hvitavrid in southern Sweden. In Sweden, Linnaeus is usually called Carl von Linné, after the name he took after his elevation to the nobility; in the tradition of literature in English, to call him Carl Linnaeus, that is, by the name that he was given at birth.

Karl was the firstborn in the family (later Nils Ingemarsson and Christina had four more children - three girls and a boy).

In 1709, the family moved to Stenbrukhult (Swedish) Russian, located a couple of kilometers from Roshult. There, Niels Linneus planted a small garden near his house, which he lovingly looked after. From early childhood, Karl also showed interest in plants.

In 1716-1727, Carl Linnaeus studied in the city of Växjö: first at the lower grammar school (1716-1724), then at the gymnasium (1724-1727). Since Växjö was about fifty kilometers from Stenbruchult, Karl was at home only during the holidays. His parents wanted him to train as a pastor and in the future, as the eldest son, take the place of his father, but Karl studied very poorly, especially in the basic subjects - theology and ancient languages. He was only interested in botany and mathematics; often he even skipped classes, instead of going to school, going to nature to study plants.

Dr. Johan Stensson Rothmann (German) Russian (1684-1763), a district doctor who taught logic and medicine at Linnaeus's school, persuaded Nils Linneus to send his son to study as a doctor and began to study medicine, physiology and botany with Karl individually. The concern of the parents about the fate of Karl was connected, in particular, with the fact that it was very difficult to find a job for a doctor in Sweden at that time, at the same time there were no problems with working for a priest.

Studying in Lund and Uppsala

Lund was the closest city to Växjö that had a higher education institution. In 1727, Linnaeus passed his exams and was enrolled at the University of Lund, where he began to study natural history and medicine. Most Interest Linnaeus was summoned to lecture by Professor Kilian Stobeus (Swedish) Russian. (1690-1742). Linnaeus settled at the professor's house; it was with the help of Stobeus that he largely put in order the information that he had gleaned from books and his own observations.

In August 1728, on the advice of Johan Rotman, Linnaeus transferred to the larger and older Uppsala University, founded back in 1474 - there were more opportunities to study medicine. Two professors of medicine worked in Uppsala at that time, Olof Rudbek Jr. (1660-1740) and Lars Ruberg (Swedish) Russian. (1664-1742).

At Uppsala University, Linnaeus met his peer, student Peter Artedi (1705-1735), with whom they began work on a critical revision of the natural history classifications that existed at that time. Linnaeus mainly dealt with plants in general, Artedi with fishes, amphibians and umbrella plants. It should be noted that the level of teaching at both universities was not very high and most of the time students were engaged in self-education.

Manuscript of Linnaeus' Praeludia sponsaliorum plantarum (December 1729)

In 1729, Linnaeus met Olof Celsius (Swedish) Russian. (1670-1756), professor of theology, who was an enthusiastic botanist. This meeting turned out to be very important for Linnaeus: he soon settled in the house of Celsius and gained access to his extensive library. In the same year, Linnaeus wrote a short work "Introduction to sexual life Plants” (lat. Praeludia sponsaliorum plantarum), which outlined the main ideas of his future classification of plants based on sexual characteristics. This work has caused big interest in Uppsala academic circles.

From 1730, Linnaeus, under the guidance of Professor Olof Rudbeck Jr., began teaching as a demonstrator in the university's botanical garden. Linnaeus's lectures were a great success. In the same year, he moved to the professor's house and began to serve as a home teacher in his family. Linnaeus, however, did not live in the Rudbecks' house for too long, the reason for which was an unsettled relationship with the professor's wife.

It is known about the educational excursions that Linnaeus conducted during these years in the vicinity of Uppsala.

With another professor of medicine, Lars Ruberg, Linnaeus also developed a good relationship. Ruberg was a follower of the philosophy of the Cynics, he seemed a strange person, dressed badly, but he was a talented scientist and owner of a large library. Linnaeus admired him and was an active follower of the new mechanistic physiology, which was based on the fact that the entire diversity of the world has a single structure and can be reduced to a relatively small number of rational laws, just as physics is reduced to Newton's laws. The main postulate of this doctrine, “man is a machine” (lat. Homo machina est), in relation to medicine, as presented by Ruberg, looked like this: “The heart is a pump, the lungs are a bellows, the stomach is a trough.” It is known that Linnaeus was an adherent of another thesis - “man is an animal” (lat. Homo animal est). In general, such a mechanistic approach to natural phenomena contributed to the drawing of many parallels both between different areas of natural science, and between nature and socio-cultural phenomena. It was on such views that Linnaeus and his friend Peter Artedy built plans for reforming the entire science of nature; their idea was to create a single orderly system of knowledge that would be easy to review May 12, 1732 Linnaeus went to Lapland.

The idea of ​​this journey largely belonged to Professor Olof Rudbek Jr., who in 1695 traveled precisely in Lapland (this trip of Rudbeck can be called the first scientific expedition in Sweden), and later, based on the materials collected in Lapland, he wrote and illustrated a book about birds, which he showed to Linnaeus.

Linnaeus returned from Lapland in the autumn, October 10, with collections and records. In the same year, Florula lapponica (“Short Flora of Lapland”) was published, in which the so-called “plant reproductive system” of 24 classes, based on the structure of stamens and pistils, appears for the first time in print.

The universities in Sweden during this period did not issue doctoral degrees, and Linnaeus, without a doctoral degree, could no longer teach in Uppsala.

In 1733, Linnaeus was actively engaged in mineralogy and wrote a textbook on this subject. Around Christmas 1733, he moved to Falun, where he began teaching assaying and mineralogy.

In 1734, Linnaeus made a botanical journey to the province of Dalarna.

Linnaeus in the "Lapland" costume (in the national costume of the Sami) (1737). Painting by Dutch artist Martin Hoffman. It can be seen that in his right hand Linnaeus holds his favorite plant, a little later named after him - Linnaeus. The Sami costume, as well as the herbarium of the Lapland flora, together with the manuscript of the Flora of Lapland, Linnaeus brought to Holland

Dutch period

In the spring of 1735, Linnaeus went to Holland for his doctorate, accompanying one of his students. Before arriving in Holland, Linnaeus visited Hamburg. On June 23, he received his MD from the University of Harderwijk with a dissertation entitled "A New Intermittent Fever Hypothesis" (on the causes of malaria). From Harderwijk, Linnaeus went to Leiden, where he published a short work Systema naturae ("System of Nature"), which opened the way for him to the circle of learned doctors, naturalists and collectors of Holland, who turned around Professor Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738) of the University of Leiden, who enjoyed European fame .

In August 1735, under the patronage of friends, Linnaeus received the post of curator of the collections and the botanical garden, George Clifford (English) Russian. (1685-1760), burgomaster of Amsterdam and director of the Dutch East India Company. The garden was located on the estate of Hartekamp (Nid.) Russian. near the city of Haarlem; Linnaeus was engaged in the description and classification of a large collection of live exotic plants delivered to Holland by the company's ships from all over the world.

Linnaeus's close friend Peter Artedi also moved to Holland. He worked in Amsterdam, putting in order the collections of Albert Seba (1665-1736), traveler, zoologist and pharmacist. Artedi managed to finish his generalizing work on ichthyology, and also identified all the fish from the Seb collection and made a description of them; Unfortunately, on September 27, 1735, Artedi drowned in a canal, having stumbled while returning home at night. Linnaeus and Artedi bequeathed their manuscripts to each other, however, for the issuance of Artedi's manuscripts, the owner of the apartment in which he lived demanded a large ransom, which was paid by Linnaeus thanks to the assistance of George Clifford. Later, Linnaeus prepared his friend's manuscript for printing and published it (Ichtyologia, 1738). Linnaeus also used Artedi's proposals for the classification of fish and umbrellas in his work.

In the summer of 1736, Linnaeus lived for several months in England, where he met with the famous botanists of the time, Hans Sloan (1660-1753) and Johan Jacob Dillenius (1687-1747). Three years spent by Linnaeus in Holland is one of the most productive periods of his scientific biography. During this time, his main works were published: in addition to the first edition of Systema naturae (“System of Nature”), Linnaeus managed to publish Bibliotheca Botanica (“Botanical Library” - a systematic catalog of literature on botany), Fundamenta Botanica (“Foundations of Botany” - a collection of aphorisms about the principles descriptions and classifications of plants), Musa Cliffortiana ("Clifford's banana" - a description of a banana growing in Clifford's garden, in this work Linnaeus makes one of the first sketches of the natural plant system), Hortus Cliffortianus (German) Russian. ("Clifford's Garden" - a description of the garden), Flora Lapponica ("The Lapland flora" - a complete edition; an abridged version of this work, Florula lapponica, was published in 1732), Genera plantarum ("Plant genera" - characteristics of plant genera), Classes plantarum ("Classes of Plants" - a comparison of all plant systems known at that time with the system of Linnaeus himself and the first publication of the natural system of plants of Linnaeus in full), Critica botanica (a set of rules for the formation of names of plant genera). Some of these books come out with wonderful illustrations by artist George Ehret. (1708-1770).

In 1738, Linnaeus traveled back to Sweden, visiting Paris along the way, where he met with the botanists, the Jussieu brothers.

Linnaeus family

In 1734, on Christmas Day, Linnaeus met his future wife: her name was Sara Lisa Morea (Swed. Sara Elisabeth (Elisabet, Lisa) Moraea (Moræa), 1716-1806), she was the daughter of Johan Hansson Moreus (Swed. Johan Hansson Moraeus (Moræus), 1672-1742), city physician in Falun. Two weeks after they met, Linnaeus proposed to her. In the spring of 1735, shortly before leaving for Europe, Linnaeus and Sarah became engaged (without a formal ceremony). Linnaeus partially received money for the trip from his future father-in-law.

In 1738, after returning from Europe, Linnaeus and Sarah became officially engaged, and in September 1739, a wedding took place in the Moreus family farm.

Their first child (later known as Carl Linnaeus Jr.) was born in 1741. They had seven children in total (two boys and five girls), of whom two (a boy and a girl) died in infancy.

The genus of flowering South African perennials from the Iridaceae family was named Moraea (Morea) by Linnaeus - in honor of his wife and her father.

Coat of arms of Linnaeus

Morea flower - a plant named by Linnaeus in honor of his wife Sarah Lisa Morea and her father

Mature years in Stockholm and Uppsala

Returning to his homeland, Linnaeus opened a medical practice in Stockholm (1738). Having cured several ladies-in-waiting from coughs with a decoction of fresh yarrow leaves, he soon became a court physician and one of the most fashionable doctors in the capital. It is known that in his medical work, Linnaeus actively used strawberries - both for the treatment of gout, and for blood purification, improving complexion, and reducing weight. In 1739, Linnaeus, heading the naval hospital, obtained permission to open the corpses of the dead to determine the cause of death.

In addition to medical practice, Linnaeus taught in Stockholm at the mining school.

In 1739, Linnaeus took part in the formation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (which was a private society in its early years) and became its first chairman.

In October 1741, Linnaeus took up the position of professor of medicine at Uppsala University and moved to the professorial house, located in the University Botanical Garden (now the Linnaeus Garden). The position of professor allowed him to concentrate on writing books and dissertations on natural history. Linnaeus worked at Uppsala University until the end of his life.

On behalf of the Swedish Parliament, Linnaeus participated in scientific expeditions - in 1741 to Öland and Gotland, the Swedish islands in the Baltic Sea, in 1746 - to the province of Västergötland (Swedish) Russian. (Western Sweden), and in 1749 - to the province of Skåne (Southern Sweden).

In 1750, Carl Linnaeus was appointed rector of Uppsala University.

The most significant publications of the 1750s:
Philosophia botanica ("Philosophy of Botany", 1751) is a textbook on botany, translated into many European languages ​​and remaining a model for other textbooks until the beginning of the 19th century.
Species plantarum ("Plant Species"). The date of publication of the work - May 1, 1753 - is taken as the starting point for botanical nomenclature.
10th edition of Systema naturae ("The System of Nature"). The date of publication of this edition, January 1, 1758, is taken as the starting point for zoological nomenclature.
Amoenitates academicae ("Academic leisure", 1751-1790). A collection of dissertations written by Linnaeus for his students and partly by the students themselves.

In 1758, Linnaeus acquired the farm of Hammarby (Swed. Hammarby) about ten kilometers southeast of Uppsala (now Linnaeus Hammarby). Vacation home in Hammarby became his summer estate.

In 1774, Linnaeus suffered the first stroke (a cerebral hemorrhage), as a result of which he was partially paralyzed. In the winter of 1776-1777 there was a second blow. On December 30, 1777, Linnaeus became much worse, and on January 10, 1778, he died at his home in Uppsala.

As one of the prominent citizens of Uppsala, Linnaeus was buried in Uppsala Cathedral.

Apostles of Linnaeus
Main article: Linnaean apostles

The apostles of Linnaeus were called his students, who participated in botanical and zoological expeditions in the most different parts light since the late 1740s. The plans for some of them were developed by Linnaeus himself or with his participation. From their travels, most of the "apostles" brought to their teacher or sent plant seeds, herbarium and zoological specimens. Expeditions were associated with great dangers; of the 17 disciples who are usually referred to as "apostles", seven died during their travels, among them was the first "apostle of Linnaeus", Christopher Tärnström (Swedish) Russian. (1703-1746). After his widow accused Linnaeus of the fact that it was his fault that her children would grow up as orphans, he began to send on expeditions only those of his students who were unmarried.

Contribution to science

Linnaeus laid the foundations of modern binominal (binary) nomenclature, introducing into the practice of taxonomy the so-called nomina trivialia, which later began to be used as specific epithets in the binomial names of living organisms. The method of forming a scientific name introduced by Linnaeus for each of the species is still used today (long names used earlier, consisting of a large number words, gave a description of the species, but were not strictly formalized). The use of the Latin name of two words - the name of the genus, then the specific name - made it possible to separate the nomenclature from the taxonomy.

Carl Linnaeus is the author of the most successful artificial classification of plants and animals, which has become the basis for the scientific classification of living organisms. He shared natural world into three "kingdoms": mineral, vegetable and animal, using four levels ("ranks"): classes, orders, genera and species.

He described about one and a half thousand new plant species (the total number of plant species described by him is more than ten thousand) and a large number of animal species.

In part, Linnaeus owes humanity the current Celsius scale. Initially, the scale of the thermometer, invented by Linnaeus's colleague at Uppsala University, Professor Anders Celsius (1701–1744), had zero at the boiling point of water and 100 degrees at the freezing point. Linnaeus, who used thermometers to measure conditions in greenhouses and greenhouses, found this inconvenient and in 1745, after the death of Celsius, “turned over” the scale.

Linnaeus Collection

Carl Linnaeus left a huge collection, which included two herbaria, a collection of shells, a collection of insects and a collection of minerals, as well as a large library. “This is the greatest collection the world has ever seen,” he wrote to his wife in a letter that he bequeathed to be read after his death.

After long family disputes and against the instructions of Carl Linnaeus, the entire collection went to his son, Carl Linnaeus Jr. (1741-1783), who moved it from the Hammarby Museum to his house in Uppsala and to the highest degree he worked hard to preserve the items included in it (the herbaria and the collection of insects had already suffered from pests and dampness by that time). The English naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) offered to sell his collection, but he refused.

But shortly after the sudden death of Carl Linnaeus Jr. from a stroke in late 1783, his mother (the widow of Carl Linnaeus) wrote to Banks that she was ready to sell him the collection. He did not buy it himself, but convinced the young English naturalist James Edward Smith (1759-1828) to do so. Potential buyers were also a student of Carl Linnaeus, Baron Claes Alströmer (1736-1894), the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, and the English botanist John Sibthorpe (English) Russian. (1758-1796) and others, but Smith was quicker: quickly approving the inventory sent to him, he approved the deal. Scientists and students of Uppsala University demanded that the authorities do everything to leave the legacy of Linnaeus at home, but King Gustav III of Sweden was in Italy at that time, and government officials replied that they could not resolve this issue without his intervention ...

In September 1784, the collection left Stockholm on an English brig and was soon safely delivered to England. The legend according to which the Swedes sent their warship to intercept the English brig that was taking out the Linnaeus collection has no scientific basis, although it is depicted in an engraving from R. Thornton's book "A New Illustration of the Linnaeus System".

The collection received by Smith included 19 thousand herbarium sheets, more than three thousand specimens of insects, more than one and a half thousand shells, over seven hundred coral specimens, two and a half thousand specimens of minerals; the library consisted of two and a half thousand books, over three thousand letters, as well as manuscripts of Carl Linnaeus, his son and other scientists.

Linneanism

Even during his lifetime, Linnaeus gained worldwide fame, following his teachings, conventionally called Linneanism, became widespread at the end of the 18th century. And although Linnaeus's concentration in studying phenomena on the collection of material and its further classification looks excessive from the point of view of today, and the approach itself seems to be very one-sided, for their time the activities of Linnaeus and his followers became very important. The spirit of systematization that permeated this activity helped biology to become a full-fledged science in a fairly short time and, in a sense, to catch up with physics, which was actively developing during the 18th century as a result of the scientific revolution.

In 1788, Smith founded in London the Linnean Society of London ("Lonnean Society of London"), the purpose of which was declared "the development of science in all its manifestations", including the preservation and development of the teachings of Linnaeus. Today this society is one of the most authoritative scientific centers, especially in the field of biological systematics. A significant part of the Linnaean collection is still kept in a special repository of the society (and is available to researchers).

Soon after the London Society, a similar society appeared in Paris - Société linnéenne de Paris ("Paris Linnean Society") (fr.) Russian .. Its heyday came in the first years after the French Revolution.

Later, similar Linnean societies (fr.) Russian. appeared in Australia, Belgium, Spain, Canada, USA, Sweden and other countries.

Honors

Even during his lifetime, Linnaeus was given metaphorical names emphasizing his unique significance for world science. He was called Princeps botanicorum (there are several translations into Russian - “First among botanists”, “Prince of botanists”, “Prince of botanists”), “Northern Pliny” (in this name Linnaeus is compared with Pliny the Elder, author of Natural History), “Second Adam", as well as "Lord of Paradise" and "Giving Names to the Animal World". As Linnaeus himself wrote in one of his autobiographies, “a great man can come out of a small hut.”

Awards and nobility

In 1753, Linnaeus was made a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star, Sweden's civil merit order.

On April 20, 1757, Linnaeus was granted a title of nobility, his name as a nobleman was now recorded as Carl von Linné (the decision to raise him to the nobility was approved in 1761). On the family coat of arms, which he invented for himself, there was a shield divided into three parts, painted in three colors, black, green and red, symbolizing the three kingdoms of nature (minerals, plants and animals). In the center of the shield was an egg. The top of the shield was entwined with a shoot of northern linnaea, a favorite plant of Carl Linnaeus. Under the shield was the motto Latin: Famam extendere factis ("multiply glory by deeds").

Assigning a noble title to the son of a poor priest, even after he became a professor and a famous scientist, was by no means an ordinary phenomenon in Sweden.

Named after Linnaeus

taxa

Linnaea (Linnaea Gronov.) is a genus of northern evergreen creeping shrubs, later separated into a separate family Linnaeaceae - Linnaeaceae (Raf.) Backlund. The plant is named after Linnaeus by the Dutch botanist Jan Gronovius. The only species of this genus, Linnaea northern (Linnaea borealis), is the official flower symbol of Linnaeus' native province of Småland.
One of the most large-flowered hybrid varieties of peony (Paeonia) is ‘Linné’.
Malva Linnaeus (Malva linnaei M.F. Ray). A type of annual or biennial herb with pink, blue or purple flowers, native to the Mediterranean, and often found wild in Australia.
Linnaeus hawthorn (Crataegus linnaeana Pojark.). A tree that grows wild in Southern Italy; as a fruit plant cultivated in the Western Mediterranean, including in France

Linnaeus northern

Peony ‘Linné’

Linnaeus and Modernity

As Professor G. Bruberg, a modern researcher of Linnaeus's life, writes, Karl Linnaeus, who, despite his modest origin, became a world famous scientist, is "an important element of Swedish national mythology", "a symbol of the entry of a poor and exhausted nation into the stage of maturity, strength and power" . This attitude towards Linnaeus becomes all the more understandable because the scientist’s youth fell on the period when Sweden, along with the death of King Charles XII in 1718, lost the status of a great power.

In 2007, on the territory of the Skansen ethnographic park in Stockholm, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the scientist, the “Linnaeus trail” was created. It has 12 stops, including the Herb Garden (in which you can find representatives of various classes of Linnaeus's "sexual" classification system), "Krunan Pharmacy" (dedicated to the medical stage in his life), as well as those areas of Skansen - "Sweden", which Linnaeus once visited: Lapland, Central Sweden, Småland.

Banknotes in denominations of 100 Swedish kronor with a portrait of Linnaeus

The modern Swedish 100-krona banknote features a portrait of Linnaeus by Alexander Roslin (1775). The reverse side of the banknote features a bee pollinating a flower.