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[[da:Carl von Linn�]] [[de:Carl von Linn�]] [[eo:Linnaeus]] [[es:Carl Linn�]] [[fr:Carl von Linn�]] [[fy:Carolus Linnaeus]] [[it:Carl Von Linn�]] [[nl:Linnaeus]] [[pl:Carl von Linn�]] [[sv:Carl von Linn�]]

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Carolus Linnaeus (or Carl von Linn�) ([[May 23]], [[1707]] - [[January 10]], [[1778]]) was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of [[taxonomy]]. He is considered one of the father of modern ecology (see [[Ecology#History_of_ecology|History of ecology]]).

He was born at [[Stenbrohult]], in the province of [[Smalandia]] in southern [[Sweden]]. As a boy Linnaeus was to be groomed for life as a churchman, as his father and maternal grandfather were, but he showed little enthusiasm for the profession.  His interest in [[Botany]], though, impressed a physician from his town and he was sent to study at [[Lund University]], transferring to [[Uppsala University]] after one a year.

During this time Linnaeus became convinced that in the [[stamen]]s and [[pistil]]s of [[flower]]s lay the basis for the classification of [[plant]]s, and he wrote a short work on the subject that earned him the position of adjunct professor.  In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala financed his expedition to explore [[Laplandia]], then virtually unknown.  The result of this was the ''Flora Laponica'' published in 1737.

Thereafter Linnaeus moved to the continent.  While in the [[Netherlands]] he met [[Jan Frederik Gronovius]] and showed him a draft of his work on taxonomy, the ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.  In it, the unwieldy descriptions used previously - ''physalis amno ramosissime ramis angulosis glabris foliis dentoserratis'' - were replaced by the concise and now familiar genus-species names - ''Physalis angulata'' - and higher taxa were constructed in a simple and orderly manner. Although this system, [[binomial nomenclature]], was developed by the [[Bauhin|Bauhin brothers]], Linnaeus may be said to have popularized it.

Linnaeus named taxa in ways that personally struck him as common-sensical; for example, human beings are ''Homo sapiens'' "wise man", but he also described a ''second'' human species, ''Homo [[troglodytes]]'' (or ''Homo nocturnus'' - "cave-dwelling man" or "nocturnal man"), by which he seems to have meant the only-recently described [[chimpanzee]]). The group "[[mammalia]]" are named for their mammary glands because one of the defining characteristics of mammals is that they nurse their young. (Of all the features distinguishing the mammals from other animals, Linnaeus may have picked this one because of his views on the importance of natural motherhood. He also campaigned against the practice of wet-nursing, declaring that even aristocratic women should be proud to nurse their own children.)

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[[Image:Autograph Carolus Linnaeus.jpg]]
<br>''[[Autograph]] of Carolus Linnaeus''
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In 1739 Linnaeus married Sara Morea, daughter of a physician.  He ascended the chair of medicine at Uppsala two years later, soon exchanging it for the chair of Botany.  He continued to work on his classifications, extending them to the kingdom of animals and the kingdom of minerals.  The last strikes us as somewhat odd, but [[evolution]] was still a long time away - and indeed, the [[Lutheran]] Linnaeus would have been horrified by it - and so Linnaeus was only attempting a convenient way of categorizing the natural world.  He was knighted in 1755, under his Swedish name, Carl von Linn�.

*Linnaeus' original botanical garden may still be seen in Uppsala.
*He also originated the practice of using the &#9794; - [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] and &#9792; - [[Venus (planet)|Venus]] glyphs as the symbol for [[male]] and [[female]].
*Linnaeus was said to be a man of great social skills. [[Esaias Tegn�r]] said about him that "he talked to [[peasant]]s in the words of peasants and to the scholars he talked in [[Latin]]".
*His picture can be found on the current Swedish 100-[[krona]] bank notes.
*Linnaeus was one of the founders of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].

== See also ==
*[[Linnean Society of London]]
*[[Daniel Solander]]
*[[Jonas C. Dryander]]
*[[Pehr Kalm]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.linnaeus.uu.se/LTeng.html Linnaeus Botanical Garden]
*[http://www.systbot.uu.se/history/linnaeus.html Biography] at the Department of Systematic Botany, [[Uppsala University|University of Uppsala]]
*[http://www.linnean.org/html/history/linnaeus_biography.htm Biography] at The Linnean Society of London
*[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html Biography] at the University of California Museum of Paleontology

====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Carolus Linnaeus" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolus_Linnaeus December 21, 2003