Scientist Karl Linney. The life and work of Karl Linnaeus

Carl Linney (Swede. Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778) - an outstanding Swedish scientist, naturalist and physician, professor at Uppsala University. He laid down the principles of the classification of nature, dividing it into three kingdoms. The merit of the great scientist was the detailed descriptions of plants left by him and one of the most successful artificial classifications of plants and animals. He introduced the concept of a taxon into science and proposed a binary nomenclature method, and also built a system of the organic world based on a hierarchical principle.

Childhood and youth

Karl Linney was born on May 23, 1707 in the Swedish city of Roshult in the family of rural pastor Nicholas Linneus. He was so enthusiastic florist that he changed his former surname Ingemarson to a Latinized version of Linneus from the name of a huge linden tree (in Swedish Lind), which grew near the house. Despite the great desire of the parents to see their firstborn as a priest, he was attracted from a young age by the natural sciences, and especially botany.

When the son was two years old, the family moved to the neighboring city of Stenbrohult, but the future scientist studied in the town of Vekshe - first at the local grammar school, and then at the gymnasium. The main subjects - ancient languages \u200b\u200band theology - were not easy for Karl. But the young man with his head was passionate about mathematics and botany. For the sake of the latter, he often skipped classes in order to study plants under natural conditions. He also mastered Latin with great difficulty, and then for the sake of being able to read Pliny in the original “Natural History”. On the advice of Dr. Rothman, who taught logic and medicine with Carl, his parents decided to give his son to study as a doctor.

Studying at the University

In 1727, Linney successfully passed the exams at Lund University. Here, the greatest impressions were made by the lectures of Professor C. Stobeus, who helped to replenish and systematize Karl's knowledge. During the first year of study, he scrupulously studied the flora of the surroundings of Lund and created a catalog of rare plants. However, Linnaeus did not study at Lund for long: on the advice of Rothman, he transferred to Uppsala University, which had a greater medical bias. However, the level of teaching in both educational institutions was below the capabilities of the student Linnaeus, so most of the time he was engaged in self-education. In 1730, he began teaching in the botanical garden as a demonstrator and was a great success among students.

However, the benefit of staying in Uppsala was still. Within the walls of the university, Linnaeus meets Professor O. Celsius, who sometimes helped a poor student with money and Professor W. Rudbeck Jr., on whose advice he went on a trip to Lapland. In addition, his fate brought him together with a student P. Artedi, in co-authorship with whom the natural-historical classification will be revised.

In 1732, Karl traveled to Lapland to study in detail the three kingdoms of nature - plants, animals and minerals. He also collected large ethnographic material, including about the life of Aboriginal people. Following the trip, Linnaeus wrote a short review work, which in 1737 was released in an expanded version called "Flora Lapponica." The aspiring scientist continued his research activities in 1734, when, at the invitation of the local governor, he went to Delecarli. After that, he moved to Falun, where he was engaged in assaying and the study of minerals.

Dutch period

In 1735, Linnaeus went to the shores of the North Sea as a doctor of medicine degree. This trip took place, including at the insistence of his future father-in-law. Having defended his dissertation at the University of Garderwijk, Karl enthusiastically studied the natural sciences of Amsterdam, and then went to Leiden, where one of his fundamental works Systema naturae was published. In it, the author presented the distribution of plants into 24 classes, laying the foundation for the classification according to the number, size, and location of stamens and pistils. Later, the work will be constantly updated, and during the life of Linnaeus will be released 12 editions.

The created system turned out to be very accessible even for lay people, making it easy to identify plants and animals. Its author was aware of his special mission, calling himself the chosen one of the Creator, who was called to give an interpretation of his plans. In addition, in Holland he writes Bibliotheca Botanica, which systematizes the literature on botany, Genera plantraum with descriptions of plant genera, Classes plantraum, which compares various plant classifications with the author’s system and a number of other works.

Homecoming

Returning to Sweden, Linnaeus engaged in medical practice in Stockholm and quickly entered the royal court. The reason was the cure of several maids of honor decoction of yarrow. He widely used healing plants in his activity, in particular, he treated gout with strawberries. The scientist made a lot of efforts to create the Royal Academy of Sciences (1739), became its first president and was awarded the title of “Royal Botanist”.

In 1742, Linnaeus fulfills a long-held dream and becomes a professor of botany in his alma mater. Under him, the Department of Botany at Uppsala University (Karl headed it for more than 30 years) gained great respect and authority. An important role in his studies was played by the Botanical Garden, where several thousand plants were grown, collected literally from around the world. "In the natural sciences, principles must be supported by observation."said Linnaeus. At this time, real success and fame came to the scientist: Karl was admired by many prominent contemporaries, including Rousseau. In the Age of Enlightenment, scientists like Linnaeus were in fashion.

Having settled in his estate of Gammarba near Uppsala, Karl retreated from medical practice and plunged into science with his head. He managed to describe all the medicinal plants known at that time and to study the effect on humans of the medicines made from them. In 1753, he published his main work, The System of Plants, on which he worked for a quarter of a century.

Linnea's scientific contribution

Linnaeus was able to correct the existing shortcomings of botany and zoology, whose mission previously was reduced to a simple description of objects. The scientist forced everyone to take a fresh look at the goals of these sciences by classifying objects and developing a system for recognizing them. The main merit of Linnaeus is related to the field of methodology - he did not discover new laws of nature, but he was able to streamline the already accumulated knowledge. The scientist proposed a method of binary nomenclature, according to which animals and plants were given names. He divided nature into three kingdoms and applied four ranks to systematize it - classes, orders, species and genera.

Linnaeus distributed all plants into 24 classes in accordance with the peculiarities of their structure and identified their genus and species. In the second edition of the book “Plant Species,” he described 1260 genera and 7540 plant species. The scientist was convinced that the plants have sex and laid the foundation for the classification of the structural features of stamens and pistils that he highlighted. When using the names of plants and animals, it was necessary to use the generic and species name. This approach put an end to the chaos in the classification of flora and fauna, and over time became an important tool for determining the kinship of individual species. In order for the new nomenclature to be convenient to use and not to cause ambiguity, the author described each species in detail, introducing the exact terminological language into science, which he described in detail in the work “Fundamental Botany”.

At the end of his life, Linnaeus tried to apply his principle of systematization to all nature, including rocks and minerals. He became the first to classify humans and monkeys as a general group of primates. Moreover, the Swedish scientist was never a supporter of the evolutionary trend and believed that the first organisms were created in some kind of paradise. He sharply criticized supporters of the idea of \u200b\u200bspecies variability, calling it a departure from biblical traditions. “Nature does not make a leap,” the scientist repeated more than once.

In 1761, after four years of waiting, Linnaeus received the noble title. This allowed him to slightly modify the name in the French manner (von Linne) and create his own coat of arms, the central elements of which became three symbols of the kingdoms of nature. Linnaeus has the idea of \u200b\u200bmaking a thermometer, for the creation of which he applied the Celsius scale. For his numerous services in 1762, the scientist was accepted into the ranks of the Paris Academy of Sciences.

In the last years of his life, Karl was seriously ill and suffered several strokes. He died in his own house in Uppsala on January 10, 1778, and was buried in the local cathedral.

The scientific legacy of the scientist was presented in the form of a huge collection, including a collection of shells, minerals and insects, two herbariums and a huge library. Despite the family disputes that arose, she went to the eldest son of Linnaeus and his full namesake, who continued the work of his father and did everything to save this collection. After his premature death, she came to the English naturalist John Smith, who founded the London Linnean Society in the British capital.

Personal life

The scientist was married to Sarah Lisa Morena, whom she met in 1734, the daughter of a Falun city doctor. The romance proceeded very rapidly, and two weeks later Karl decided to make her an offer. In the spring of 1735, they rather modestly became engaged, after which Karl left for Holland to defend his dissertation. Due to various circumstances, their wedding took place only 4 years later in the family farm of the bride's family. Linnaeus became a father of many children: he had two sons and five daughters, of whom two children died in infancy. In honor of his wife and father-in-law, the scientist named Moraea a genus of perennial plants from the Iris family, native to South Africa.

Who is Karl Linney, what is his contribution to science? What is this naturalist known for? Consider today.

How did Karl Linney live, what is his biography?

The future scientist was born in 1707 in Sweden, in the family of a local priest. The family did not live well, his father had a small plot of land, where the young naturalist first discovered the world of plants. On the land plots of his parents, the boy collected various herbs and flowers, dried them and created the first herbarium in his life.

Like many prominent personalities, Karl in childhood did not show great aspirations for science. Teachers considered him untalented and unpromising and therefore did not pay him much attention.

Time passed, the future scientist grew up, but interest in the living world did not fade away. However, his parents sent him to Lund Medical University, where Karl studied many scientific disciplines, including chemistry and biology.

After transferring to Uppsala University in 1728, the young man met his peer Peter Artedi. Later, it was in collaboration with him that Carl would begin joint work on the revision of natural-historical classifications.

In 1729, Karl met with Professor Olof Celsius, who was passionately passionate about botany. This event turned out to be crucial for the young man, because the young man got the opportunity to access the scientific library.

The first scientific expedition

In 1732, Charles was sent to Lapland by the Royal Scientific Society, from where the future genius brought a whole collection of minerals, plants and animals. Later, Linnaeus presented a report, which he called “Flora of Lapland,” but not these works glorified the future scientist.

However, this report addresses very important points. Linnaeus first mentions such a concept as the classification of plants, consisting of 24 classes. The universities of Sweden of those years were not able to issue diplomas, and therefore there was a growing need for moving to another country. After graduating from such an educational institution, a young specialist did not have the right to carry out any scientific and teaching activities.

Relocation to Holland

In his first year in Holland, Linnaeus defends his thesis and becomes a doctor of medicine. Nevertheless, the scientist does not put aside the passion for botany, combining medical practice and scientific activity.

In 1735, Linnaeus presents his outstanding work, entitled "System of Nature." It is this work that will glorify the scientist and will form the basis for the classification of plant and animal species.

Linnaeus proposed the so-called binary nomenclature for species naming (used to this day). Each plant and animal was designated by two Latin words: the first - was determined by genus, the second - by species.

The classification of plants was simple. The definition of generic affiliation was based on the number and location of leaves, the size of stamens and pistils, the size of plants and other criteria.

The binary nomenclature was enthusiastically received and quickly and easily took root in the scientific world, since it put an end to the existence of complete chaos in the classification of objects of the living world.

This work was reprinted 10 times. The reason for this lies in the advancement of scientific thought and discoveries of new plant species. The final version was presented to the scientific world in 1761, where Linnaeus describes 7540 species and 1260 plant genera. Belonging to one genus determined the degree of kinship of objects of the plant world.

In his botanical works, the scientist first determined the presence of sexes in plants. This discovery was created on the basis of a study of the structure of pistils and stamens. Until that time, it was believed that plants lacked sexual characteristics.

The scientists themselves discovered about one and a half thousand new plant species, to which he gave an accurate description and defined a place in the classification he created. Thus, the plant kingdom was greatly expanded by the works of Linnaeus.

Passion for zoology

Linnaeus contributed to zoology. The scientist also classified the animal world in which he distinguished the following classes: insects, fish, amphibians, birds, mammals and worms. The human species Charles quite accurately attributed to the class of mammals, the order of primates.

Even convinced of the possibility of interspecific crossbreeding and the emergence of new species, Karl still adhered to the theological theory of the origin of life. Linnaeus regarded any deviation from religious dogmas as apostasy, deserving of censure.

Other classifications

An inquiring mind did not give him rest. Already on the “slope” of life, the scientist made attempts to classify minerals, diseases, and medicinal substances, but it was no longer possible to repeat the former success and these works did not receive an enthusiastic perception of the scientific community.

last years of life

In 1774, the scientist became seriously ill. In the struggle for his life he spent four whole years and in 1778 the outstanding botanist was gone. Nevertheless, it is difficult to overestimate his merits with science, since Linnaeus “laid the foundation” of botany and zoology and in many ways determined the trends of further development. In London, to this day, there is a scientific society that bears the name of a great scientist, while being one of the leading scientific centers.

Karl Linney

(1707-1778)

Karl Linney, the famous Swedish naturalist, was born in Sweden on May 13, 1707. He was a noble family, his ancestors were simple peasants; father was a poor village priest. The year after the birth of his son, he received a more profitable parish in Stenbrogult, a year, and Karl Linney spent his entire childhood until he was ten years old.

My father was a big lover of flowers and gardening; in the picturesque Stenbrogult he planted a garden, which soon became the first in the entire province. This garden and father’s activities, 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 “Karl’s kindergarten”

When the boy was 10 years old, he was sent to elementary school in the city of Vexie. School activities of a gifted child went poorly; he continued to study botany with enthusiasm, and preparing lessons was tedious for him. His father was going to take the young man from the gymnasium, but the case pushed him with the local doctor Rothman. Rothman's classes at the "underperforming" gymnasium went better. The doctor began to introduce him little by little to medicine and even - contrary to teachers' reviews - made him fall in love with Latin.

At the end of the gymnasium, Karl entered Lund University, but soon transferred from there to one of the most prestigious universities in Sweden - Uppsala. Linnaeus was only 23 years old when professor of botany Oluas Tselzky took him as his assistant, after which Karl himself, as a student, began to teach at the university. Very significant for the young scientist was a trip to Lapland. Linnaeus walked nearly 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 campus of Gardkvik, he passed the exam and on June 24 he defended his dissertation on a medical subject - about fever. The immediate goal of his journey was achieved, but Karl remained. He remained fortunately for himself and for science: a rich and highly cultured Holland served as a cradle for his ardent creative activity and his high-profile fame.

One of his new friends, Dr. Gronov, invited him to 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”, which concluded for the time being only 14 pages of a huge format, on which brief descriptions of minerals, plants and animals were grouped in tables. With this publication begins a series of rapid scientific successes of Linnaeus.

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

At this time, he received a brilliant offer to become George Cliffort's personal physician with a salary of 1,000 guilders and full content.

Despite the successes that surrounded Linnaeus in Holland, he began to gradually pull home. In 1738 he returned to his homeland and faced with unexpected problems. He, accustomed in three years of foreign life to universal respect, friendship and tokens of the most prominent and famous people, at home, at home, was just a doctor without a place, without practice and without money, and no one cared for his scholarship . So Linnaeus the nerd gave way to Linnaeus the doctor, and his favorite activities were temporarily stopped by him.

However, already in 1739, the Swedish Sejm appropriated to him one hundred lucats of annual content with an obligation to teach botany and mineralogy.

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

In 1742, Linnaeus's dream came true, and he becomes a professor of botany at his home university. All his other life passed 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 drugs made from them.

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

But Linnaeus still considered the systematization of plants the main business of his life. The main work, Plant System, 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 Linea began his activities, zoology was in a period of exceptional predominance of systematics. The task, which she then set for herself, consisted in a simple acquaintance with all 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, the zoology and botany of that time were mainly engaged in the study and description of species, but there was boundless confusion in their recognition. The descriptions that the author gave to new animals or plants were inconsistent and inaccurate. The second main drawback of the science of that time was the lack of a basic and accurate classification.

These basic shortcomings of systematic zoology and botany were corrected by the genius of Linnaeus. Remaining on the same basis of the study of nature on which his predecessors and contemporaries stood, he was a powerful reformer of science. His 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 his help he brought light and order to where chaos and confusion reigned before him, which gave a huge impetus to science, powerfully paving the 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 for the scientific name of plants and animals. Based on the structural features, he divided all the plants into 24 classes, highlighting also individual genera and species. Each name, in his opinion, should consist of two words - generic and species designations.

Despite the fact that the principle applied by him was quite artificial, it turned out to be very convenient and became generally pleasant in the 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 described so accurately and in detail that they could not be mixed with other species of the same kind of. Linnaeus did this: he was the first to introduce a strictly defined, exact language and precise definition of attributes into science.

His essay, Fundamental Botany, published in Amsterdam during his life with Cliffort and representing the result of seven years of work, sets out the foundations of the botanical terminology that he used to describe plants.

The Linnaean zoological system did not play such a large role in science as the botanical one, although in some respects it was superior to it as less artificial, but it did not represent its main advantages - convenience in determination. Linnaeus was little familiar with anatomy.

Linnaeus' works gave a tremendous impetus to systematic botany and zoology. The developed terminology and convenient nomenclature made it easier to cope with a huge material, which was so difficult to understand before. Soon, all classes of plants and the animal kingdom were thoroughly studied in a systematic way, and the number of species described 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 attribute humans and monkeys to one group of animals - primates. As a result of his observations, the natural scientist compiled yet another book - The System of Nature. He worked on it all his life, from time to time reprinting his work. In total, the scientist prepared 12 editions of this work, which from a small book gradually turned into a voluminous multivolume edition.

The last years of Linnaeus' life were overshadowed by senility and decrepitude. He died on January 10, 1778, in the seventy-first year of his life.

After his death, the department of botany at Uppsala University was received by his son, who zealously set about continuing the work of his father. But in 1783 he suddenly fell ill and died in the forty-second year of his life. The son was not married, and with his death, the family of Linnaeus in the male generation ceased.

By the 18th century scientists and nature lovers have done a great job collecting and describing plants and animals around the world. But it became increasingly difficult to navigate in the ocean of information accumulated by them. The Swedish naturalist Karl Linney summarized and brought this knowledge into the system. He laid the foundations of modern taxonomy.

Karl Linney was born on May 23, 1707 in the family of a village priest. Karl’s mother from childhood instilled in him a love for all living things, especially for flowers.

But the future president of the Swedish Academy of Sciences remained very indifferent to schoolwork. The Latin language was not given to him in any way. Teachers said that education, apparently, was not enough for a boy - it is better to teach him some profession. The angry father decided to give Carl to study with the shoemaker.

And Liina would have expected a career in shoe-making from the master, if the doctor who had not known had persuaded the father of the boy to let him study medicine. In addition, he helped Karl graduate from high school.

Karl studied medicine and biology at universities in the Swedish cities of Lund and Uppsala. He lived in his student years poorly.

When Karl was 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 trip, he ate what he had to, barely got out of the swamp swamps, fought against mosquitoes. And once he faced the enemy more seriously - a robber who nearly killed him. Despite all the obstacles, Linnaeus collected samples of Lapland plants.

In his homeland, Linnaeus could not 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 received the doctorate, here in 1735 his most famous work, The System of Nature, was published. During the life of Linnaeus, 12 editions of this book were published. All this time, Linnaeus constantly supplemented it and increased its volume from 14 pages to 3 volumes.

Karl Linney System:

The concept of the form.

To “sort through” a huge number of descriptions of plants and animals, some sort of taxonomy was needed. Linnaeus considered the species to be such a unit common to all living things. Linnaeus named the group of individuals similar to each other as children of the same parents and their children. The species consists of many similar individuals giving fertile offspring. For example, forest raspberries are one species, bone is another, cloudberries are a third kind of plant. All domestic cats comprise one species, tigers - another, lions - the third animal species. Consequently, the entire organic world consists of various species of plants and animals. All wildlife 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 kinds of plants and animals into large groups - classes, he divided each class into groups, each group into genera. Each genus Linnaeus was composed of similar species.

Nomenclature.

Linnaeus began to give names to the species in the very Latin that was given so badly to him in his school years. Latin was at that time the international language of science. Thus, Linnaeus solved a difficult problem: after all, when the names were given in different languages, the same species could be described under many names.

A very important merit of Linnaeus was the introduction into practice of double names of species (binary nomenclature). He suggested calling each species in two words. The first is the name of the genus, which includes related species. For example, a lion, a tiger, a 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, European Spruce and Tien Shan (Blue) Spruce species are combined into the Spruce genus, and the Hare and Hare species in the Hare species. Thanks to the double nomenclature, the similarity, commonality, unity of the species forming one genus is revealed.

Systematics of animals.

Linnaeus divided the animals into 6 classes:

Mammals

Amphibians (in this class he placed amphibians and reptiles)

Insects

Among the "worms" were mollusks, jellyfish, and a variety of worms, and all microorganisms (the latter Linnaeus united in a single genus - Chaos infusorium).

The man (whom he called “Homo sapiens”, Homo sapiens) Linnaeus quite boldly for his time placed in the class of mammals and a squad of primates, along with monkeys. He did this 120 years before C. Darwin. He did not consider that man descended from other primates, but saw a great resemblance in their structure.

Systematics of plants.

Linnaeus approached the systematization of plants in more detail than the systematization of animals. Among the plants, he identified 24 classes. Linnaeus understood that the most essential and characteristic part of the plant is the flower. To the 1st class, he attributed plants with one stamen in a flower, to the 2nd - with two, to the 3rd - with three, etc. Mushrooms, lichens, algae, horsetails, ferns - in general, all, deprived of flowers, were in the 24th grade (“secret-married”).

The artificiality of Linnaeus taxonomy.

The system of plants and animals of Linnaeus was largely artificial. Distant plants (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' systematics 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 flaw in 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 one or two signs. Trying to develop a natural plant system, Linnaeus was convinced that the science of that time did not have the knowledge necessary for this.

Despite the artificiality, the Linnaeus system played a positive role in biology. The systematic divisions and dual nomenclature proposed by Linnaeus are firmly established in science and are used in modern botany and zoology. Later, two more units were introduced:

Type - the highest unit uniting similar classes;

Family - bringing together similar births

Innovation Linnaeus.

Karl Linney has reformed the botanical language. He first proposed plant names such as a corolla, anther, nectary, ovary, stigma, filament, receptacle, perianth. In total, K. Linney introduced about a thousand terms to botany.

Linnaeus looks at nature.

Science at that time was under the influence of religion. Linnaeus was an idealist, he argued that in nature there are so many species of plants and animals, "how many different forms the almighty produced in the beginning of the world." Linnaeus believed that plant and animal species did not change; they retained their characteristics "from the moment of creation." According to Linnaeus, each modern species is the offspring of the original god-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 about the complete immutability of plants and animals with what is observed in nature. He allowed the formation of species within the species due to the influence of climate change on organisms and other external conditions.

The idealistic and metaphysical doctrine of the creation and immutability of species prevailed in biology until the beginning of the 19th century, until it was refuted as a result of the discovery of many evidence of evolution.

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Introduction

1. Biography

2. Scientific advances

3. The Linnaeus Collection

List of references

Introduction

In the 18th century, zoologists and botanists studied and described species, but it was very difficult to recognize them, because the descriptions were inaccurate and in some cases erroneous. According to the descriptions of scientists, it was difficult to recognize a plant or animal in nature. Therefore, it was necessary to systematize and improve the data, which was exactly what Carl Linnaeus did.

Linnaeus created a system of flora and fauna, which summarized the achievements of zoologists and botanists of the 18th century. He defined the concept of “view”. The species, at the suggestion of Linnaeus, is designated in two words by the Latin language, so that in translation into any language you can clearly identify the body. This name of the species is called binary nomenclature. It was he who first created the most successful artificial classification of the animal and plant worlds at that time. We know him as the founder of scientific systematics, but let's get acquainted with other scientific achievements of this outstanding scientist.

1. Biography

Karl Linney was born on May 23, 1707 in the village of Roshult in Sweden in the family of a priest. Two years later, he moved to Stenbrohult with his family. At an early age, Karl Linney began to get involved in plants, spent a lot of time in the garden of his father studying plants. He received his primary education at a school in the city of Veksjo, and after graduation he entered the gymnasium. Linnaeus' parents wanted the boy to continue his family business and become a pastor. But Karl’s theology was of little interest. He devoted much time to the study of plants.

Thanks to the insistence of the school teacher Johan Rothman, parents let Karl go to study medical sciences. Then the university stage began. Karl began to study 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 engage in self-education. Together with a student at the same university, Peter Arthady Linnaeus, began revising and criticizing the principles of natural science.

In 1729, an acquaintance with W. Celsius took place, which played an important role in the formation of Linnaeus as a botanist. Then Karl moved to the house of Professor Celsius, began to get acquainted with his huge library. The basic ideas of Linnaeus on the classification of plants were presented in his first work, "Introduction to the sexual life of plants." A year later, Linnaeus had already begun to teach and lecture in the botanical garden of Uppsald University.

The period from May to October 1732 he spent in Lapland. After fruitful work during the trip, his book “Brief Flora of Lapland” was published. It was in this work that the reproductive system in the plant world was described in detail. The following year, Linnaeus became interested in mineralogy, even published a textbook. Then, in 1734, in order to study plants, he went to the province of Dalarna.

He received his doctorate in medical sciences in June 1735 at Harderwijk University. Linney’s next work, The System of Nature, marked a new stage in his career and, as a whole, in the life of Linnaeus. Thanks to new connections and friends, he received the position of superintendent of one of the largest botanical gardens in Holland, in which plants from around the world were collected. So Karl continued the classification of plants. And after the death of his friend Peter Artedi published his work, later used his ideas for classifying fish. While living in Holland, the works of Linnaeus were published: Fundamenta Botanica, Musa Cliffortiana, Hortus Cliffortianus, Critica botanica, Genera plantarum and others.

The scientist returned to his homeland in 1773. There, in Stockholm, he engaged in medical practice, applying his knowledge of plants to treat people. He also taught, was chairman of the Royal Academy of Sciences, professor at Uppsala University (retained his post until his death).

Then Karl Linney went on an expedition to the islands of the Baltic Sea, visited western and southern Sweden. And in 1750 he became the 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.

2. Scientific achievements

The system of flora and fauna created by Linnaeus completed the enormous work of botanists and zoologists of the 1st half of the 18th century. The main merit of Linnaeus is that in the "System of Nature" laid the foundations of modern binomial nomenclature, according to which each species is indicated by two Latin names - generic and species. Linnaeus defined the concept of “species” using both morphological (similarity within the offspring of one family) and physiological (presence of prolific offspring) criteria, and established a clear subordination between systematic categories: class, order, genus, species, variation.

Linnaeus based the classification of plants on the number, size, and location of the stamens and pistils of the flower, as well as a sign of the single, double, or multi-homed nature of the plant, since he believed that the reproductive organs were the most essential and permanent parts of the body in plants. Based on this principle, he divided all plants into 24 classes. Due to the simplicity of the nomenclature used by him, descriptive work was greatly facilitated, the species received clear characteristics and names. Linnaeus himself discovered and described about 1,500 species of plants.

Linnaeus divided all animals into 6 classes:

1. Mammals

3. Amphibians

6. Insects

The amphibian class included amphibians and reptiles; he classified all the forms of invertebrates known in his time, except insects, as a class of worms. One of the advantages of this classification is that man was included in the system of the animal kingdom and assigned to the class of mammals, to the order of primates. The classifications of plants and animals proposed by Linnaeus are artificial from the modern point of view, since they are based on a small number of characters taken at random and do not reflect the actual relationship between different forms. So, on the basis of only one common sign - the structure of the beak - Linnaeus tried to build a “natural” system based on the totality of many signs, but did not reach the goal.

The man (whom he called “Homo sapiens”, Homo sapiens) Linnaeus quite boldly for his time placed in the class of mammals and a squad of primates, along with monkeys. He did not consider that man descended from other primates, but saw a great resemblance in their structure. linnaeus animal herbal medicine

Linnaeus approached the systematization of plants in more detail than the systematization of animals. Linnaeus understood that the most essential and characteristic part of the plant is the flower. To the 1st class, he attributed plants with one stamen in a flower, to the 2nd - with two, to the 3rd - with three, etc. Mushrooms, lichens, algae, horsetails, ferns - in general, everything , deprived of flowers, ended up in the 24th grade (“secret-married”).

The Linnaeus system was artificial, that is, built on one or two features, almost randomly taken. Other signs were not taken into account by him. Therefore, along with many successful rapprochements, such different plants as duckweed and oak, spruce and nettle turned out to be nearby.

However, recognizing the achievements of Linnaeus, Clement Timiryazev called the system of the plant world he created “unsurpassed in its elegant simplicity”, “the crown and the last word of artificial classification”.

Modern systematic scientists take into account what Linnaeus could not know: the closer the species are to each other in the system, the more close they have a common ancestor. Such a system is called natural. Linnaeus also classified soils and minerals, human races, diseases (according to symptoms); discovered the toxic and healing properties of many plants. Linnaeus is the author of several works, mainly on botany and zoology, as well as in the field of theoretical and practical medicine (“Medicinal substances”, “Childbirth of diseases”, “Key to Medicine”).

3. Karl Linney Collection

Karl Linney left a huge collection, which included two herbariums, 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 announced after his death.

On November 1, 1783, Carl unexpectedly died of a stroke. The house in Uppsala, the library, offices and herbariums should have been transferred to his heirs, so it is not surprising that the widow of Linnaeus tried to get rid of this burden as soon as possible and as profitable as possible. She asked an old friend of the J. Acrele family to help her, and after some time he contacted Banks through intermediaries. It so happened that a letter from Linnais’s widow to Sir Banks was delivered at the moment when he was giving a dinner party, which was attended by an ardent young naturalist, 24-year-old J.E. Smith Banks' collection by that time was so large that he no longer thought about its replenishment, all the more so significant. He also perfectly understood that such a chance falls only once and there is no time for thought. Banks convinced Smith to bid for the greatest of treasures. And Smith immediately offered Linnaeus’s widow 1000 guineas if the detailed inventory of the collection would meet his expectations.

Meanwhile, the number of people wishing to purchase a meeting of the great Swedish naturalist began to increase. Potential buyers were Baron K. Alstremer, Empress Catherine II, Dr. J. Sibthorp, as well as a wealthy merchant from Gothenburg. Understanding how this would all end, scientists and students of Uppsala University appealed to the authorities: Linnaeus’s legacy should remain in Sweden at all costs! The Secretary of State replied to this, that one could not do without the intervention of the king, who should contribute to the acquisition of collections and libraries in favor of the crown. But Gustaf was in Italy, and before he could somehow influence the outcome of the case, Smith approved the inventory and approved the deal. On September 17, 1784, Linney’s books and samples left Stockholm on the English brig “Appearance” and were soon safely delivered to England.

The story that the Swedes, having first allowed the national treasure to be taken out of the country, suddenly caught on and, realizing their greatest mistake, allegedly sent their warship to intercept the ship, there is no reason. Nevertheless, the legend of this pursuit is immortalized in an engraving from R. Thornton's book “A New Illustration of the Linnaeus System”.

As soon as it became known about the export of the collection of Linnaeus, a huge scandal erupted. The academic circles of Sweden were indignant and looked for the guilty. The actions of Akrel and, on the contrary, the inaction of the nobles who knew Linnaeus during their lifetime, were declared a crime. In fact, the fateful accident was precisely the absence of King Gustaf, who would certainly leave the meeting in Sweden.

And how great was the loss! When Smith eagerly unpacked 26 large boxes, he found even more in them than he expected! There were 19,000 herbarium leaves with plants, 3200 insects, more than 1500 shells, more than 700 pieces of coral and 2500 samples of minerals. The library consisted of 2,500 books, over 3,000 letters, as well as manuscripts of the scientist himself, his son Karl and other natural scientists of that time.

In 1788, at the initiative of Smith, the London Linnean Society was founded, the purpose of which was "the development of science in all its manifestations, and especially the natural history of Great Britain and Ireland." By the way, this is the main difference between the Society and the Swedish Linnaean society, whose activity is associated only with the work and personality of Linnaeus himself. Smith, who became the first president of the Linnaeus Society, was granted the nobility (1814) for his active scientific and social activities. After Smith's death in 1828, the Society acquired for 3,350 pounds sterling from his widow the Linnaeus library and what was left of the collections. The amount at that time was huge, and the Society was able to pay it in full only in 1861. Unfortunately, minerals were sold during Smith’s life. Corals and part of the library were not preserved.

Output

Thanks to the scientific works of Karl Linnaeus, biology, and in particular botany, of that time was able to catch up with the development of physics, chemistry and mathematics. The binary nomenclature introduced by Linnaeus for each species is still used, the work "System of Nature" laid the foundation for the modern classification of the living world. Carrying out these reforms in taxonomy, Linnaeus tidied up all the factual material on botany and zoology that had accumulated before him and was in a chaotic state, and thereby greatly contributed to the further growth of scientific knowledge. The hardworking scientist has put together an invaluable collection of many plants, insects, minerals, corals and shells. Without the efforts and diligence of Carl Linnaeus, modern biology would not have advanced so far.

List of references

Stankov S. S. "Karl Linney"

Bruberg “Linnaeus the Traveler”, “Young Medic and Nerd”

Motuzny V.O. "Biology"

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