Carl Linnaeus
Oil on canvas, painted by Johan Henric Scheffel.
Linnaeus (1707–1778; ennobled Carl von Linné) is one of the most famous Uppsala University professors ever. In 1735 he published Systema Naturae, an inventory of the three kingdoms of nature: minerals, animals, plants. For the flowering plants he uses an arbitrary arrangement, his Systema Sexualis, based on the number and relations of stamens and styles in the flower. However, he considered unraveling the Natural System as the prime goal of botany, and he made significant progress to that end. For the classification of animals, and in particular minerals, he has mattered less.
Linnaeus' most manifest legacy is, hower, the ingenious binomial system for naming species, with the genus name followed by a specific epithet. You may have heard of Primula veris (cowslip) and Homo sapiens (man). While there are numerous Primula species, man is alone in Homo (Linnaeus actually considered apes and humans congeneric, but he did not want to provoke the theologicians).
His Species Plantarum (1753, describing all known species of plants) and Systema Naturae ed. 10 (1758; ditto for animals) are still very important, as they provide the official starting points for the scientific naming of species.
In 1741 he was appointed professor of medicine at Uppsala. He later moved into the house in the Academic Garden and started his work there. The Linnaeus household developed into a productive environment where a large number of colleagues and students stayed, together with his family. The Garden became a place for teaching and experimenting. It was the hub of Linnaeus’ extensive network of correspondents all over the world.
The Royal Academy's botanical garden in Linnaeus' time, called the Linnaeus Garden today. Copy after illustration/copper engraving by Fredrik Akrel, year 1770.
He attracted students, not only from Sweden. A group of students close to him (called his disciples or apostles) were given specific assignments to undertake expeditions to distant lands. Packages of exotic seeds, tubers, bulbs, and animals were sent to Linnaeus in Uppsala. The hope was that Sweden would be able to produce its own tea, silk, pearls, and china. The journeys Linnaeus made to provinces of Sweden were also prompted by a wish to study natural resources in order to exploit and develop them better.
New teaching methods were introduced during the 18th century, more practically oriented ones. Both Linnaeus and other professors incorporated new kinds of demonstrations, equipment, and visual materials in their teaching. The excursions into the countryside surrounding Uppsala that Linnaeus led attracted very large numbers of participants. They went off into the woods and fields of Uppland to observe flowers, insects, and stones.
One reason Linnaeus’ work had such an impact was his ability to create networks, to maintain good contacts, and cultivate benefactors. Linnaeus had many excellent contacts at the royal court, for instance. Linnaeus was awarded the Order of the North Star in 1753 and was made a nobleman for his work.
Linnaeus was a curious and creative researcher. One of his mottos was ‘Omnia mirari etiam tritissima’, which translates to ‘Find wonder in everything, even the most commonplace’. Here, Linnaeus pinpoints perhaps one of the most important traits in a researcher: be curious and amazed by everything.