The Ecology Book

87

See also: Classification of living things 82–83 ■ Biological species concept 88–89

■ A modern view of diversity 90–91

ORDERING THE NATURAL WORLD

In 1732, Linnaeus joined an

expedition to Lapland, where he

collected about 100 unidentified

species. These formed the basis of

his book Flora Lapponica, in which

he aired his ideas about plant

classifications for the first time.

Three years later, Linnaeus

wrote about his idea for a new

hierarchical classification of plants

in a further book, Systema Naturae,

and thereafter in arguably his

greatest work, Species Plantarum,

published in 1753, which covered

7,300 species. Previously, plants had

been known by long impractical

names—for example, Plantago foliis

ovato-lanceolatis pubescentibus,

spica cylindrica, scapo tereti.

Linnaeus called this plant Plantago

media, which was sufficient to

identify it. As well as being concise,

the Linnaean system describes

relationships between species.

Later developments

Linnaeus constantly expanded

Systema Naturae; its 10th edition

(1758) became the starting point

for modern animal classification.

It was he who suggested that

humans were members of the

primate family. Much later, aided

by Charles Darwin’s theory of

evolution by natural selection,

biologists accepted that a

classification should reflect the

principle of common descent,

which led to the methodology

known as cladistics. ■

Carl Linnaeus

Born in rural southern Sweden,

Linnaeus was educated at the

University of Uppsala, where

he began teaching botany in

1730. He spent three years
      in the Netherlands, and, on
      returning to Sweden, he
      divided his time between
      teaching, writing, and plant-
      collecting expeditions. At
      Uppsala, 17 of his students
      embarked on expeditions all
      over the world. Linnaeus was
      a friend of Anders Celsius, the
      inventor of the temperature
      scale. After his friend’s death,
      Linnaeus reversed the scale
      so that freezing point was
      32°F (0°C) and boiling point
      212°F (100°C). Linnaeus
      has been described as the
      “prince of botanists,” and the
      philosopher Rousseau said of
      him “I know no greater man
      on Earth.” Linnaeus is buried
      in Uppsala Cathedral; his
      remains constitute the type
      specimen—the specimen that
      represents a species—used for
      Homo sapiens.

Key works

1735 Systema Naturae

1737 Flora Lapponica

1751 Philosophia Botanica

1753 Species Plantarum

Whales were once thought to be

fish, and were classified as such in

an early edition of Linnaeus’s Systema

Naturae. Only later was it understood

that they are actually mammals.

In natural science,

the principles of truth

ought to be confirmed

by observation.

Carl Linnaeus

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