Carl Linnaeus, the Prince of Botanists (and a Lot More)

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin was celebrated just a couple of weeks ago, but Darwin's job of identifying the species he encountered was made much easier by the work of a man who was born a little over 300 years ago. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus was born in 1707, and earned the name "Prince of Botanists" (or Princeps Botanicorum in Latin). But Linnaeus (who was also a physician) has had a long-lasting impact on science that has gone far beyond botany.

For it was Linnaeus who created the standardized two-word (usually) classification system in Latin that is the basis of the system that we use to identify living things today. The system created by Linnaeus allows scientists (and laymen) from anywhere in the world, speaking any language, to immediately understand what someone is referring to when mentioning a specific organism, whether that organism is modern man (Homo sapiens), a house cat (Felis catus), a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), or a type of bacteria (Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli).

To learn more about Carl Linnaeus and the events surrounding the 300th anniversary of his birth, check out the home page of a New Zealand exhibition held in 2007 to mark the occasion, "Linnaeus, Prince of Botanists: His Works and Legacy."

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