Ten fun facts about Carl Linnaeus
Fact 1
He is known as the father of modern taxonomy.
Fact 2
He is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.
Fact 3
Many of his writings were in Latin.
Fact 4
In 1747, Linnaeus was given the title archiater, or chief physician, by the Swedish king Adolf Frederick—a mark of great respect.
Fact 5
During Linnaeus' time as Professor and Rector of Uppsala University, he taught many devoted students, 17 of whom he called “apostles”. They were the most promising, most committed students, and all of them made botanical expeditions to various places in the world, often with his help.
Fact 6
The establishment of universally accepted conventions for the naming of organisms was his main contribution to taxonomy—his work marks the starting point of consistent use of binomial nomenclature.
Fact 7
At the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe.
Fact 8
Although Lapland was a region with limited biodiversity, Linnaeus described about 100 previously unidentified plants. These became the basis of his book Flora Lapponica.
Fact 9
Botanical historian E. L. Greene described Flora Lapponica as "the most classic and delightful" of Linnaeus's works.
Fact 10
During the summer of 1745, Linnaeus published two more books: Flora Suecica and Fauna Suecica. Flora Suecica was a strictly botanical book, while Fauna Suecica was zoological.
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