Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1777) is considered the ” father of botany .” During his admission to the University of Uppsala, he realized that the cataloging system of the animal, plant and mineral kingdom was full of errors. It was from this moment, when Linnaeus considered creating a universal, simple and updated system.
Thus, in 1735 he developed his own method of systematic classification of living beings, which he named Sytema Naturae (Natural System). This was the origin of taxonomy . Its binomial nomenclature was based on 5 main groups: sex, family, classes, types, and kingdom. It became the most universalized system of the 19th century. And in fact, his contributions to zoology, botany and biology are still appealed today.
In 1751 he also demonstrated the sexual reproduction of plants and also established the name of each of its parts. It is estimated that in total, he cataloged some 8,000 animal species and 6,000 plant species with his method. “Genera plantarum” (1737) and “Species plantarum” (1753) were his two most outstanding works.
In 1777, he had to retire from his academic and scientific jobs because of a stroke. A year later, on January 10, Carl Linnaeus passed away. Next, we review some of his most repeated phrases.
“Nature does not jump.”
“I have traced the footprints of God in creatures, and in all, even in the most minute and closest, what insurmountable perfections I have not found!”
“The structure of man, external and internal, compared with that of other animals, shows us that fruits and succulent vegetables constitute their natural diet.
“If you ignore the name of things, what you know about them also disappears.”
“My soul is aflame with an unquenchable love for plants.”
