Classification of Plants

Linnaeus joined the University of Uppasala as a lecturer in Botany and wrote a paper on the different parts of a plant. In doing so he realized that the existing system of classification was totally inadequate. He began to think of introducing a newer and better classification of plants based on their sexual organs. In 1732, the University of Uppasala sent him to Lapland to study the local flora. Linnaeus travelled 4,600 miles through northern Scandinavia, discovering hundreds of new species of plants and making notes of animal species as well. After this he undertook a journey through England and western Europe following which he published a book called Systema Naturae (1735), which created a stir for its systematic and comprehensive classification of living things, completely overshadowing previous work done in this area.

Linnaeus developed a clear and precise style of labelling species that described exactly how each one is differed from the other species. He also initiated a novel system of using two names, in which each species is first given a generic name (for the group that it belongs) and a specific name for itself. Originally written as a seven-page book, Linnaeus' publication kept expanding with every edition, until it extended to twenty-five hundred pages by the time of its tenth edition. Other Classification: Linnaeus' obsession for classification was not confined merely to species and groups. He grouped related genera into classes, and related classes into orders. He went as far as to classify human beings, giving the human species the name of Homo Sapiens ("man wise"). Being a pious man, he confined his classification to the human body preferring to consider the soul as existing outside the realm of the animal kingdom.

However, he classified orangutan in the same genus as man – Homo troglodytes ("Man–cave dwelling") but this did not find widespread acceptance. He also classified whales and related species as mammals thus finally confirming a point of view originally advanced by Aristotle. Later Years: After long years of travel, Linnaeus finally returned to Sweden and entered medical practice in 1741. He became head of the department of medicine at Uppasala. A year later he moved to the department of Botany and spent the rest of his life teaching. He proved to be an inspirational teacher as well, motivating his students with the same passion that had moved him. They too, travelled all over the world in search of new forms of life and it is believed many of them never returned. In 1761, he was honoured with a title by the Swedish government that gave him the right to call himself Carl Von Linné. He was also appointed a member of the Swedish House of Nobles. He died on January 10, 1778, in Uppasala, where he is interred in the Cathedral. After his death, many of his books and collections were bought by a prosperous English naturalist, Sir J.E. Smith, who took them to England. There he helped to found (1788) a biological association called the Linnaean Society, where his papers and specimens were kept for purposes of research.

Carolus Linnaeus was born at Rāshult, Smaland, on May 23, 1707. He was the son of a pastor, who wanted his son to be a physician. Linnaeus was rather dull as a child and unwilling to take up medicine. But despite his objection, he was sent to the medical school in Lund and then at Uppasala. Fortunately for him, he stood the test of hard work and study and did well scholastically. But financially, he came close to disaster and if it had not been for Celsius, then teaching at Uppasala, who took him into his home, his life would perhaps have taken a different turn. Linnaeus had always been interested in plants even at the age of eight, and he was fondly nicknamed as little botanist because of this characteristic. This interest continued to grow in college and he studied parts of plants and flowers with unusual curiosity.

Classification, by itself is not the highest function in science, but in a diverse and undefined field such as biology, it can prove indispensable. That is why, Linnaeus’ imposition of order upon life became the foundation on which all later classifications evolved. His arrangement of living things beginning with large groups, followed by smaller groups, then still smaller ones and finally the individual species gave the system of living organisms, the appearance of a tree of life. Such a tree of life not only helped to sharpen the hazy notions about the beginnings of life but also led to more systematic studies on the subject of evolutions leading finally to Darwin and his Evolution of Species.

Linnaeus was an extraordinary scientist. He had a passion for bringing order and organisation into the chaos and ambiguity that existed in the world of biological phenomena. He was prepared to travel widely, visiting some of the most remote and hostile terrain in the world, in pursuit of unknown forms of life that he could include in his classification. Later in life, he was able to inspire his own students in a similar fashion and they undertook hazardous journeys to complete his task of classification of living things.

Though Linnaeus’ system of classification pointed to an evolution of living things beginning from simple creatures to more complex ones, he himself steadfastly refused to recognise it. He stubbornly insisted that all species were created separately in the beginning and that no new species had been formed since Creation and that none had become extinct. Some of his conservatism was the result of his devout Christian beliefs that found the idea of evolution of species repugnant. His philosophy of classification was that, the various species should be differentiated based on physical and apparent characteristics and not on family relationships that he did not believe existed.