Book Review - The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus - Princeton University Press

      There is a certain level of irony in the fact that Linnaeus has been part of my life for almost as long as I have conscious memory, yet I knew nothing about Linnaeus. This book changes that!

     We learn a good deal about the non-public Linnaeus, from his humble origins to his steady rise to prominence among the scientific literati of the era, along the way discovering his foibles, his attitudes towards family, his flirtation with mysticism and the occult, and his occupation with material wealth. Gunnar Broberg has produced a masterful scholarly work about one of the giants of history, and it is cause for sadness that he did not live to see his magnum opus published.

       Every single aspect of the life of this great man is covered in detail in a series of thirty-eight vignettes and the reflective notes of a couple of epilogues, all backed up by impeccable sources

       Linnaeus' concept of the origins and forms of all life were based on sexual reproduction as exemplified by plants. He came into conflict with the noted French academic of the day, Georges-Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon who rejected Linnaeus' concept of species as an unnecessary human artifice. Ironically, Buffon's view of life originating in "almost imperceptible degrees of change" aligned neatly with Charles Darwin's thoughts a hundred years later. Buffon soundly rejected "Linnaeus' decision to give the sexual organs a crucial role in plant life, while rating all other features to be secondary."

     Scientists had not yet arrived at the point where they rejected divine creation (at least not publicly) and Linnaeus still strongly believed in an all-powerful God. He had faith in the Bible as a source of knowledge about nature, but based only on the Old Testament. He displayed a total lack of interest in Jesus, or the idea of personal redemption and salvation, and dismissed belief in an afterlife. 

     Sometimes accusations of atheism were leveled at him, but to accept that epithet in the eighteenth century would have been the academic kiss of death, possibly even actual death.

     Linnaeus was possessed of a healthy level of vanity and self-aggrandizement was frequently displayed in his publications and lectures. He was always a chauvinist about Sweden, considering it to be the very centre of the universe and superior to all other countries. Never above benefitting from his celebrity he charged for private lessons and any other opportunity for profit that presented itself.

     His most important contribution to the world of science, and especially to taxonomy, was the development of the system of binomial nomenclature, the very reason that most of us know of Linnaeus today. As Broberg states, "At a stroke names became easier to remember........Linnaeus' contribution was actually five fold: (1) improved overview of the system; (2) terminological precision increased; (3) because Latin was consistently employed, the binomial structure was internationally comprehensible; (4) the approach applied universally; and (5) at the time included all known species." Furthermore, "It is worth emphasizing once more: the great significance of the Linnean reforms was that his names were applied universally - that professionals could communicate in the same language." That remains true to this day.

     

     The impoverished boy, Carl Linnaeus, who walked with holes in his shoes, yet later in life was elevated to the aristocratic title Carl von Linné, with a life of prestige and privilege, changed the world of science forever, with his system of binomial classification. 

     I can think of no other artifice that has survived in continuous use for nigh on three hundred years, with no indication that it is about to be eclipsed by anything else. 

     What a legacy this great man has left us. I am reminded of him every time I see a plant, hear a bird, or startle as a chipmunk scurries from beneath my feet and, unwittingly perhaps, I issue silent words of gratitude for a job well done.

     It was Linnaeus who gave us our name Homo sapiens.  He at least, was worthy of the title.

The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus

Gunnar Broberg

US$39.95 - £35.00 - ISBN 9780691213422

512 pages - 6.13 x 9.25 inches (15.33 x 23.13 cm)

18 colour and 55 black-and-white illustrations

Publication date: (USA) 11 July, 2023; (UK) 05 September, 2023