Carl Linnaeus defined the species. Carl Linnaeus - biography. last years of life

Carl Linnaeus - Swedish naturalist, naturalist, botanist, physician, founder of modern biological systematics, creator of the system of flora and fauna, the first president of the Swedish Academy of Sciences (since 1739), a foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1754).

Linnaeus was the first to consistently apply binary nomenclature and built the most successful artificial classification of plants and animals, described about 1500 plant species. Karl advocated the permanence of species and creationism. Author of "The System of Nature" (1735), "Philosophy of Botany" (1751), etc.

Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in Roshult. The boy was the firstborn in the family of the country pastor and florist Niels Linneus. His father replaced his surname Ingemarson with the Latinized surname "Linneus" after a giant linden tree (in Swedish Lind) that grew near the ancestral home. Having moved from Roshult to neighboring Stenbrohult (Småland province in southern Sweden), Niels planted a beautiful garden, of which Linnaeus said: "this garden ignited my mind with an unquenchable love for plants."

Passion for plants distracted Carl from homework. Parents hoped that teaching in the nearby town of Vekshe would cool off the ardent passion of the future scientist. However, even in elementary school (from 1716), and then at the gymnasium (from 1724), the boy did not study well. He neglected theology and was considered the worst student in the ancient languages.

Only the need to read Pliny's Natural History and the works of modern botanists made him learn Latin - universal language science of that time. Karl was introduced to these writings by Dr. Rothman. Encouraging the interest in botany of a gifted young man, he prepared him for entering the university.

In August 1727, twenty-year-old Carl Linnaeus became a student at Lund University. Acquaintance with the herbarium collections of the natural study of Professor Stobeus prompted Linnaeus to thoroughly study the flora of the Lund environs, and by December 1728 he compiled a catalog of rare plants "Catalogus Plantarum Rariorum Scaniae et Smolandiae".

In the same year, K. Linnaeus continued to study medicine at Uppsala University, where friendly communication with student Peter Artedi (later a well-known ichthyologist) brightened up the dryness of the course of lectures on natural history. Joint excursions with professor-theologian O. Celsius, who helped financially impoverished Linnaeus, and classes in his library expanded Linnaeus's botanical horizons, and he owed to the benevolent professor O. Rudbeck Jr. not only the beginning of his teaching career, but also the idea of ​​​​traveling to Lapland (May -September 1732).

The purpose of this expedition was to study all three kingdoms of nature - minerals, plants and animals - a vast and little-studied region of Fennoscandia, as well as the life and customs of the Laplanders (Saami). The results of the four-month journey were first summarized by Linnaeus in a small work in 1732; the complete Flora lapponica, one of Linnaeus's most famous works, appeared in 1737.

In 1734, K. Linnaeus traveled to the Swedish province of Dalecarlia at the expense of the governor of this province, and later, having settled in Falun, he was engaged in mineralogy and assaying. Here he first engaged in medical practice, and also found a bride. The engagement of Linnaeus with the daughter of the doctor Moreus took place on the eve of the groom's departure to Holland, where Linnaeus went as an applicant for a doctorate in medicine in order to be able to support his family (a requirement of the future father-in-law).

Having successfully defended his dissertation on intermittent fever (paint brushes) at the university in Gardewijk on June 24, 1735, K. Linnaeus plunged into the study of the richest natural science rooms in Amsterdam. Then he went to Leiden, where he published one of his most important works, Systema naturae (The System of Nature, 1735). It was a summary of the kingdoms of minerals, plants and animals, set out in tables of only 14 pages, however, in a sheet format. Linnaeus divided plants into 24 classes, based on the number, size and arrangement of stamens and pistils.

New system turned out to be practical and allowed even amateurs to identify plants, especially since Linnaeus streamlined the terms of descriptive morphology and introduced binary (binominal) nomenclature to designate species, which simplified the search and identification of both plants and animals.

In the future, Karl supplemented his work, and the last lifetime (12th) edition consisted of 4 books and 2335 pages. Linnaeus himself was aware of himself as the chosen one, called to interpret the Creator's plan, but only the recognition of the famous Dutch physician and naturalist Hermann Boerhaave opened the way to glory for him.

After Leiden, Carl Linnaeus lived in Amsterdam with the director of the Botanical Garden, studying plants and creating scientific papers. Soon, on the recommendation of Boerhaave, he received a job as a family doctor and head of the botanical garden from the director of the East India Company and mayor of Amsterdam G. Cliffort. For two years (1736-1737) spent in Hartekamp (near Haarlem), where the rich and plant lover Cliffort created an extensive collection of plants from around the world, Linnaeus published a number of works that brought him European fame and unquestioned authority among botanists.

In a small book "Fundamente Botanicc" ("Fundamentals of Botany"), compiled from 365 aphorisms (according to the number of days in a year), Linnaeus outlined the principles and ideas that guided him in his work as a systematic botanist.

In the famous aphorism, “We number as many species as there are various forms was first created" he expressed his belief in the constancy of the number and invariability of species from the time of their creation (later he allowed the emergence of new species as a result of crossings between already existing species). Here is a curious classification of the botanists themselves.

The works "Genera plantarun" ("Genera of plants") and "Critica Botanica" are devoted to the establishment and description of genera (994) and problems of botanical nomenclature, and "Bibliotheca Botanica" - botanical bibliography. The systematic description of the Clifffort Botanical Garden compiled by Carl Linnaeus - "Hortus Cliffortianus" (1737) became a model for such writings for a long time. In addition, Linnaeus published the "Ichthyology" of his untimely deceased friend Artedi, preserving for science the work of one of the founders of ichthyology.

Returning to his homeland in the spring of 1738, Linnaeus married and settled in Stockholm, practicing medicine, teaching and science. In 1739 he became one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Sciences and its first president, received the title of "royal botanist".

In May 1741, Carl Linnaeus traveled around Gotland and to the island of Oland, and in October of the same year, with a lecture “On the necessity of traveling around the homeland,” he began his professorship at Uppsala University. Many aspired to study botany and medicine in Uppsala. The number of students at the university tripled, and in the summer it increased many times thanks to the famous excursions, which ended with a solemn procession and a loud proclamation of “Vivat Linnaeus!” by all its members.

Since 1742, the teacher restored the University Botanical Garden, almost destroyed by fire, placing in it a particularly lively collection of Siberian plants. Rarities sent from all over the world by his traveling students were also grown here.

In 1751, Philosophia Botanica (Philosophy of Botany) was published, and in 1753, probably the most significant and important work for botany by Carl Linnaeus, Species plantarum (Plant Species).

Surrounded by admiration, showered with honors, elected an honorary member of many learned societies and Academies, including St. Petersburg (1754), elevated to the nobility in 1757, Linnaeus, in his declining years, acquired the small estate of Hammarby, where he spent time peacefully occupied with his own garden and collections . The scientist died in Uppsala in the seventy-first year.

In 1783, after the death of Linnaeus's son, Karla, his widow, she sold the herbarium, collections, manuscripts, and the scientist's library for 1,000 guineas to England. In 1788, the Linnean Society was founded in London, and its first president, J. Smith, became the chief curator of the collections. Designed to become a center for studying the scientific heritage of Linnaeus, it still fulfills this role at the present time.

Thanks to Carl Linnaeus, plant science became one of the most popular in the second half of the 18th century. He himself was recognized as the "head of botanists", although many contemporaries condemned the artificiality of the Linnaean system. His merit consisted in streamlining the almost chaotic variety of forms of living organisms into a clear and visible system. He described more than 10,000 plant species and 4,400 animal species (including Homo sapiens - Homo sapiens). Linnaeus's binomial nomenclature remains the basis of modern taxonomy.

The Linnaean names of plants in Species plantarum (Plant Species, 1753) and animals in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758) are legitimate, and both dates are officially recognized as the beginning of modern botanical and zoological nomenclature. The Linnean principle ensured the universality and continuity of the scientific names of plants and animals and ensured the flourishing of taxonomy. The scientist's passion for systematics and classification was not limited to plants - he also classified minerals, soils, diseases (disease), human races. He wrote a number of medical works. Unlike scientific works written in Latin, Carl Linnaeus wrote his travel notes in his native language. They are considered a model of this genre in Swedish prose.

Carl Linnaeus (Swedish Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778) - an outstanding Swedish scientist, naturalist and physician, professor at Uppsala University. He laid down the principles of the classification of nature, dividing it into three kingdoms. The merits of the great scientist were the detailed descriptions of plants left by him and one of the most successful artificial classifications of plants and animals. He introduced the concept of taxa into science and proposed the method of binary nomenclature, and also built a system organic world based on the hierarchical principle.

Childhood and youth

Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in the Swedish city of Roshult to the family of the rural pastor Nicholas Linneus. He was such an enthusiastic florist that he changed his former surname Ingemarson to the Latinized version of Linneus from the name of a huge linden tree (in Swedish Lind) that grew near the house. Despite the great desire of the parents to see their first-born as a priest, from a young age he was attracted to the natural sciences, and especially botany.

When the son was two years old, the family moved to the neighboring town of Stenbrohult, but the future scientist studied in the town of Växche, first at the local grammar school, and then at the gymnasium. The main subjects - ancient languages ​​​​and theology ─ were not easy for Karl. But the young man was passionate about mathematics and botany. For the sake of the latter, he often skipped classes in order to study plants in natural conditions. He also mastered Latin with great difficulty, and then for the sake of being able to read Pliny's Natural History in the original. On the advice of Dr. Rotman, who taught logic and medicine with Karl, the parents decided to send their son to study as a doctor.

Studying at the University

In 1727, Linnaeus successfully passed the exams at Lund University. Here greatest impressions he was given lectures by Professor K. Stobeus, who helped to replenish and systematize Karl's knowledge. During his first year of study, he meticulously studied the flora of the Lund area and created a catalog of rare plants. However, Linnaeus did not study at Lund for long: on the advice of Rotman, he transferred to Uppsala University, which had a greater medical bias. However, the level of teaching in both educational institutions was below the capabilities of the student Linnaeus, so most of the time he was engaged in self-education. In 1730 he began teaching at the botanical garden as a demonstrator and was a great success among the audience.

However, there were still benefits from staying in Uppsala. Within the walls of the university, Linnaeus meets Professor O. Celsius, who sometimes helped a poor student with money, and Professor W. Rudbeck, Jr., on whose advice he went on a trip to Lapland. In addition, fate brought him together with the student P. Artedi, in collaboration with whom the natural history classification will be revised.

In 1732 Karl visited Lapland with the aim of studying in detail the three kingdoms of nature - plants, animals and minerals. He also collected a large ethnographic material, including the life of the natives. As a result of the trip, Linnaeus wrote a short review work, which in 1737 was published in a detailed version under the title Flora Lapponica. My research activities the novice scientist continued in 1734, when, at the invitation of the local governor, he went to Delecarlia. After that, he moved to Falun, where he worked as an assayer and studied minerals.

Dutch period

In 1735, Linnaeus went to the shores of the North Sea as an applicant for a doctorate in medicine. This trip took place, among other things, at the insistence of his future father-in-law. After defending his dissertation at the University of Garderwijk, Carl enthusiastically studied the natural science classrooms in Amsterdam, and then went to Leiden, where one of his fundamental works, Systema naturae, was published. In it, the author presented the distribution of plants in 24 classes, laying the foundation for classification by the number, size, arrangement of stamens and pistils. Later, the work would be constantly supplemented, and during the lifetime of Linnaeus 12 editions would be issued.

The created system turned out to be very accessible even for non-professionals, allowing you to easily identify plants and animals. Its author was aware of his special destiny, calling himself the chosen one of the Creator, called to give an interpretation of his plans. In addition, in Holland, he writes "Bibliotheca Botanica", in which he systematizes literature on botany, "Genera plantraum" with a description of plant genera, "Classes plantraum" - a comparison of various classifications of plants with the system of the author himself and a number of other works.

Homecoming

Returning to Sweden, Linnaeus practiced medicine in Stockholm and entered the royal court rather quickly. The reason was the cure of several ladies-in-waiting with a decoction of yarrow. He widely used medicinal plants in his activities, in particular, he treated gout with strawberries. The scientist made a lot of efforts to create the Royal Academy of Sciences (1739), became its first president and was awarded the title of "royal botanist".

In 1742, Linnaeus fulfills an old dream and becomes a professor of botany at his alma mater. Under him, the Department of Botany at Uppsala University (Karl headed it for more than 30 years) gained great respect and authority. An important role in his studies was played by the Botanical Garden, where several thousand plants grew, collected literally from all over the world. "In the natural sciences, principles must be confirmed by observation", said Linnaeus. At this time, real success and fame came to the scientist: Karl was admired by many prominent contemporaries, including Rousseau. In the Age of Enlightenment, scientists like Linnaeus were all the rage.

Settling in his estate Gammarba near Uppsala, Charles moved away from medical practice and plunged headlong into science. He was able to describe all the medicinal plants known at that time and study the effect of medicines produced from them on humans. In 1753, he published his main work, The System of Plants, on which he worked for a quarter of a century.

Scientific contribution of Linnaeus

Linnaeus managed to correct the existing shortcomings of botany and zoology, whose mission had previously been reduced to a simple description of objects. The scientist made everyone take a fresh look at the goals of these sciences by classifying objects and developing a system for their recognition. The main merit of Linnaeus is connected with the field of methodology - he did not discover new laws of nature, but he was able to streamline the already accumulated knowledge. The scientist proposed a method of binary nomenclature, according to which animals and plants were given names. He divided nature into three kingdoms and applied four ranks to systematize it - classes, orders, species and genera.

Linnaeus divided all plants into 24 classes in accordance with the characteristics of their structure and identified their genus and species. In the second edition of Plant Species, he presented descriptions of 1,260 genera and 7,540 plant species. The scientist was convinced that plants have sex and based the classification on the features of the structure of stamens and pistils he identified. When using the names of plants and animals, it was necessary to use the generic and specific names. This approach put an end to the chaos in the classification of flora and fauna, and over time became important tool determining the relationship of individual species. In order for the new nomenclature to be convenient to use and not cause ambiguity, the author described each species in the most detailed way, introducing the exact terminological language into science, which he detailed in his work “Fundamental Botany”.

At the end of his life, Linnaeus tried to apply his principle of systematization to all of nature, including rocks and minerals. He was the first to take man and apes to general group primates. At the same time, the Swedish scientist was never a supporter of the evolutionary direction and believed that the first organisms were created in some kind of paradise. He sharply criticized the supporters of the idea of ​​the variability of species, calling it a departure from biblical traditions. “Nature does not make a leap,” the scientist repeated more than once.

In 1761, after four years of waiting, Linnaeus received title of nobility. This allowed him to somewhat modify the surname in the French manner (von Linne) and create his own coat of arms, the central elements of which were three symbols of the kingdoms of nature. Linnaeus came up with the idea of ​​making a thermometer, for the creation of which he applied the Celsius scale. For his numerous merits in 1762, the scientist was admitted to the ranks of the Paris Academy of Sciences.

In the last years of his life, Karl was seriously ill and suffered several strokes. He died in his own house in Uppsala on January 10, 1778 and was buried in the local cathedral.

The scientific heritage of the scientist was presented in the form of a huge collection, including a collection of shells, minerals and insects, two herbariums and huge library. Despite the family disputes that arose, it went to the eldest son of Linnaeus and his full namesake, who continued the work of his father and did everything to preserve this collection. After his premature death, she came to the English naturalist John Smith, who founded the London Linnean Society in the British capital.

Personal life

The scientist was married to Sarah Lisa Morena, whom he met in 1734, the daughter of the city doctor Falun. The novel proceeded very rapidly, and two weeks later, Karl decided to propose to her. In the spring of 1735, they became rather modestly engaged, after which Karl went to Holland to defend his dissertation. Due to various circumstances, their wedding took place only 4 years later in the family farm of the bride's family. Linnaeus became a father of many children: he had two sons and five daughters, of whom two children died in infancy. In honor of his wife and father-in-law, the scientist named Moraea a genus of perennial plants from the Iris family, growing in South Africa.

By the 18th century scientists and nature lovers have done a great job collecting and describing plants and animals all over the world. But it became more and more difficult to navigate in the ocean of information accumulated by them. The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus generalized and brought this knowledge into a system. He laid the foundations of modern taxonomy.

Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in the family of a village priest. Carl's mother from childhood brought up in him a love for all living things, especially for flowers.

But the future president of the Swedish Academy of Sciences remained very indifferent to schoolwork. Latin was not given to him at all. The teachers said that education, apparently, was not up to the boy - it would be better to teach him some kind of craft. The angry father decided to send Karl to be trained by a shoemaker.

And Linney would have waited for a career as a shoemaker, if a familiar doctor had not persuaded the boy's father to allow him to study medicine. In addition, he helped Carl finish high school.

Karl studied medicine and biology at the universities of the Swedish cities of Lund and Uppsala. He lived in his student years in poverty.

When Karl was 25 years old, the leadership of Uppsala University invited him to go on a scientific journey through northern Scandinavia - Lapland, to explore its nature. He carried all his luggage on his shoulders. During this journey, he ate what he had to, barely got out of the swampy swamps, fought mosquitoes. And once he ran into a more serious enemy - a robber who almost killed him. Despite all the obstacles, Linnaeus collected samples of Lapland plants.

At home, Linnaeus could not find a permanent job in his specialty, and for several years he moved to Holland, where he was in charge of one of the best botanical gardens in the country.

Here he received his doctorate, here in 1735 his most famous work, The System of Nature, was published. During the life of Linnaeus, 12 editions of this book were published. All this time, Linnaeus constantly supplemented it and increased its volume from 14 pages to 3 volumes.

Carl Linnaeus system:

The concept of the form.

In order to "sort through" a huge number of descriptions of plants and animals, some kind of systematic unit was needed. Such a unit, common to all living things, Linnaeus considered the species. By species, Linnaeus called a group of individuals similar to each other, like children of the same parents and their children. A species consists of many similar individuals that produce fertile offspring. For example, forest raspberries are one species, stone berries are another, cloudberries are the third species of plants. All domestic cats are one species, tigers are another, lions are a third species of animals. Consequently, the whole organic world consists of various types of plants and animals. All living nature consists, as it were, of separate links - species.

Linnaeus discovered and described about 1,500 species of plants and over 400 species of animals, he distributed all types of plants and animals into large groups - classes, he divided each class into orders, each order into genera. Each genus of Linnaeus was composed of similar species.

Nomenclature.

Linnaeus began to give names to species in the very Latin that was so poorly given to him in school years. Latin was at that time the international language of science. Thus, Linnaeus solved a difficult problem: after all, when names were given in different languages, the same species could be described under many names.

A very important merit of Linnaeus was the introduction of double species names (binary nomenclature) into practice. He proposed to name each species with two words. The first is the name of the genus, which includes closely related species. For example, a lion, a tiger, a domestic cat belong to the genus Felis (Cat). The second word is the name of the species itself (respectively, Felis leo, Felis tigris, Felis do-mestica). In the same way, the European Spruce and Tien Shan Spruce (blue) species are combined into the genus Spruce, the White Hare and Brown Hare species into the Hare genus. Thanks to the double nomenclature, the similarity, commonality, unity of the species that form one genus is revealed.

Systematics of animals.

Linnaeus divided animals into 6 classes:

mammals

Amphibians (in this class he placed amphibians and reptiles)

Insects

The number of "worms" includes molluscs, jellyfish, various worms, and all microorganisms (the latter were combined by Linnaeus into a single genus - Chaos infusorium).

Man (whom he called "reasonable man", Homo sapiens) Linnaeus quite boldly for his time placed in the class of mammals and the detachment of primates along with monkeys. He did it 120 years before Charles Darwin. He did not believe that man was descended from other primates, but he saw a great similarity in their structure.

Systematics of plants.

Linnaeus approached the systematization of plants in more detail than the systematization of animals. He singled out 24 classes among plants. Linnaeus understood that the most essential and characteristic part of a plant is a flower. He attributed plants with one stamen in a flower to the 1st class, to the 2nd - with two, to the 3rd - with three, etc. Mushrooms, lichens, algae, horsetails, ferns - in general, all, devoid of flowers, were in the 24th class ("mystery").

The artificiality of Linnaeus' systematics.

The system of plants and animals of Linnaeus was largely artificial. Plants far from each other (for example, carrots and currants) ended up in the same class only because their flowers have the same number of stamens. Many related plants ended up in different classes. The systematics of Linnaeus is artificial, also because it helped to recognize plants and animals, but did not reflect the course of the historical development of the world.

Linnaeus was aware of this deficiency in his system. He believed that future naturalists should create a natural system of plants and animals, which should take into account all the features of organisms, and not just one or two signs. Trying to develop a natural plant system, Linnaeus became convinced that the science of that time did not provide the knowledge necessary for this.

Despite the artificiality, the Linnaean system played a positive role in biology. The systematic subdivisions and dual nomenclature proposed by Linnaeus have become firmly established in science and are used in modern botany and zoology. Later, two more divisions were introduced:

Type - the highest division that unites similar classes;

Family - uniting similar genera

Linnaeus innovations.

Carl Linnaeus reformed the botanical language. He first proposed such plant names as: corolla, anther, nectary, ovary, stigma, filament, receptacle, perianth. In total, K. Linnaeus introduced about a thousand terms into botany.

Linnaeus' views on nature.

Science at that time was influenced by religion. Linnaeus was an idealist, he argued that in nature there are as many species of plants and animals as "how many different forms the almighty created at the beginning of the world." Linnaeus believed that plant and animal species do not change; they retained their characteristics "from the moment of creation." According to Linnaeus, every modern species is the offspring of the original parent pair created by God. Each species reproduces, but retains, in his opinion, unchanged all the features of this ancestral pair.

As a good observer, Linnaeus could not help but see the contradictions between the ideas about the complete immutability of plants and animals with what is observed in nature. He allowed the formation of varieties within a species due to the influence of climate change and other external conditions on organisms.

The idealistic and metaphysical doctrine of the creation and immutability of species dominated biology until early XIX century, until it was refuted as a result of the discovery of many evidence for evolution.

Prof. M. L. Rokhlina

“... in the field of biology, they were mainly engaged in the accumulation and first selection of colossal material, both botanical and zoological, as well as anatomical and proper physiological. Comparison of forms of life among themselves, the study of their geographical distribution, their climatological and other conditions, was still out of the question. Here only botany and zoology have reached some completion thanks to Linnaeus.
ENGELS. Dialectic of nature

Carl Linnaeus.

Science and life // Illustrations

General picture of life according to Linnaeus.

Classification based on external features without taking into account phylogeny led the remarkable classifier Linnaeus to a number of gross errors.

Science and life // Illustrations

One of the most striking figures among the learned naturalists of the XVIII century. was Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). In scientific terms, he stands at the turn of two eras. Linnaeus summarized the entire amount of factual knowledge accumulated since the Renaissance, created a taxonomy of the animal and plant world, and thus, as it were, completed the biology of the metaphysical period. The era of Linnaeus is characterized by two ideas: the recognition of the “creative act” that created the living world, and at the same time the idea of ​​the immutability, constancy of species and their hierarchy, their gradual complication, the idea that saw in the expedient structure of organisms a single plan, imbued with the “wisdom of the creator”.

The prevailing belief was that "Natura non faclt saltus" ("nature does not make leaps").

Engels writes that the period under consideration is especially characterized by "the formation of a single, integral worldview, the center of which is the doctrine of the absolute immutability of nature" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature).

Linnaeus went down in history as the creator of the metaphysical taxonomy of animals and plants, as the author of the formula "there are as many species as they came out of the hands of the creator," a formula he expressed in the first edition of The System of Nature (1735).

Linnaeus was an encyclopedically educated scientist with exceptional memory and powers of observation, and with what was said to be a "systematic streak." Linnaeus systematizes everything - minerals, animals, plants and even diseases (for example, to the first scientific work on medicinal plants “Materia medica”, published by him in 1749, Linnaeus attached the “Catalogue of Diseases”, and indicated how to treat each disease).

But at the same time, Linnaeus was a contemporary of K. F. Wolf, about whom Engels wrote:

“It is characteristic that almost simultaneously with Kant’s attack on the doctrine of eternity solar system K. Wolf made in 1759 the first attack on the theory of the constancy of species, proclaiming the doctrine of their development ”(Engels. D.P.).

In the midst of Linnaeus's scientific work, the works of the great French materialists La Mettrie, Diderot and others are published, in which the ideas of transformism (evolution) of species are expressed. Finally, a contemporary of Linnaeus was Buffon, who, contrary to the prevailing worldview, expressed the idea of ​​a historical connection in nature and said that animals themselves have a history and, perhaps, are able to change.

Thus the idea of ​​the variability of species has already appeared in the field scientific problems XVIII century., And, of course, that this could not pass by Linnaeus. He had a brilliant knowledge of fauna and flora and could not fail to see transitional, changing species. Therefore, it is no coincidence that “Linnaeus already made a big concession when he said that due to crossing in places new species could arise” (Engels D.P.). In a number of his last works, Linnaeus speaks directly about the variability of species. Thus, during his almost 50 years of scientific activity, he evolved to some extent; it is also no coincidence that the phrase "there are as many species as they came from the hands of the creator" is absent from the 10th edition of the System of Nature, which appeared shortly before the death of Linnaeus. These facts need to be emphasized, since the opinion that Linnaeus stood strictly on the point of view of the permanence of species is widely held. It can be seen from Linnaeus's letters that his insufficiently decisive statements are partly due to the influence of the social environment, in particular, the professorship of Uppsala University, where Linnaeus occupied the chairs of disease diagnostics, pharmacognosy, dietetics and natural sciences for 36 years (1741-1777).

At the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the laying of sea trade routes begins, the conquest of previously unknown countries, from which numerous and diverse animals and plants were brought to Europe. Throughout Europe in the 16th and then in the 17th century. botanical gardens are created, which become scientific centers. This era is also characterized by an increased interest in ancient Greek scientists and philosophers.

The systematic description of the animal and plant world, as it is found in Aristotle, Theophrist, Dioscorides, and others, is supplemented and expanded by new botanical and zoological material. There is a need to systematize and classify the huge material that this era provides - a necessity arising from practical interests: “the main task ... was to cope with the material available” (Engels, D.P.). Strictly speaking, only from the XVI century. the first foundations of systematic science begin to be laid. Since that time, a number of works have appeared that try to build classification schemes and tables on different principles. The historical merit of Linnaeus lies precisely in the fact that he completes these numerous attempts, creating the largest simple and perfect system for that time.

“The crown and, probably, the last word of such a classification was the system of the plant kingdom proposed by Linnaeus, which has not yet been surpassed in its elegant simplicity” (K. A. Timiryazev).

The main merits of Linnaeus are as follows:

1. He created a very simple and convenient system of taxonomic units (class, order, family, genus, species), subordinate to one another.

2. Classified the animal and plant world according to his system.

3. Established the species definition for plants and animals.

4. Introduced a double nomenclature to designate species, i.e. generic and specific Latin names, and established such names for animals and plants known to him.

Thus, from the time of Linnaeus, every animal or plant organism is designated by two Latin names, the name of the genus to which the animal belongs, and the name of the species; they are usually joined in an abbreviated form by the name of the researcher who first described the given organism.

So for example, an ordinary wolf is designated - Canis lupus L; where the word Canis denotes a genus (dog) - the word lupus is a species (wolf) and the letter L is the surname of the author (Linnaeus), who first described this species.

Similar species according to the Linnaean system are combined into genera (thus the wolf, jackal, fox, domestic dog are combined into the dog genus). Similar genera are combined into families (so the wolf belongs to the canine family); families are united into orders (for example, the canine family belongs to the order of carnivores), orders - into classes (for example, carnivores belong to the class of mammals), classes - into types (mammals belong to the type of chordates).

K. A. Timiryazev emphasizes the importance of binary nomenclature in the following words:

“Just as national literatures especially honor the creators of their language, so the universal language of descriptive natural science should honor its creator in Linnaeus.”

Linnaeus, however, was reproached that his Latin was “not quite Ciceronian,” but Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an ardent admirer of Linnaeus, objected to this: “But it was free for Cicero not to know botany” (according to Timiryazev).

One should not think that everything introduced by Linnaeus was invented by him. So, even John Ray introduced the concept of species, the binary nomenclature is found in Rivinus and Baugin, and Adanson and Tournefort before Linnaeus united similar species into genera, etc. However, Linnaeus’s merit does not decrease from this, since his role lies in the fact that he combined all this into a single whole, choosing what corresponded to the creation of harmonious systems of the plant and animal world. Linnaeus himself characterized the meaning of the system in the following way: “The system is Ariadne’s thread of botany; without it, the herbarium business turns into chaos.”

Systema naturae, a work by Linnaeus, appeared in 1735. The first edition appeared as a 12-page synopsis on all three kingdoms of nature, while the last edition appeared in 12 volumes.

Speaking about the works of Linnaeus on systematics, it is impossible not to touch on his other most important works. In 1751, his “Philosophy of Botany” was published, in which the doctrine of the species was set out and in which Liney first applied binary nomenclature, Jean Jacques Rousseau characterized this work as the most philosophical of all that he knows. In 1753 one of the major works Linnaeus: "Species plautarum" ("Plant Species"), which for the first time gives a complete taxonomy of the entire plant world known at that time. Speaking of Linnaeus's views on taxonomy, constancy of species, etc., we will have to touch on all three of these works in parallel.

In our short essay we will be interested in two questions: 1) the evaluation of the Linnaean system in terms of natural and artificial classification, and 2) Linnaeus's attitude to the ideas of the constancy and variability of species.

Linnaeus himself considered his system as artificial and believed that it should be replaced by a natural system. Classifications before Linnaeus were purely artificial and had a random, arbitrary character. So, one of the first classifications of animals was compiled alphabetically, there were classifications of plants according to their signature (i.e., according to their medicinal value), some scientists (Rey, Tournefort) classified plants according to the corolla, others according to seeds (Cesalpin) or according to fruits ( Gertner). It is clear that all these taxonomists artificially combined the most diverse species according to some one taken arbitrary trait, and the need for a natural classification according to the degree of similarity, kinship between individual species spontaneously grew. A natural classification, unlike an artificial one, is based not on any one arbitrarily chosen trait, but on the basis of a combination of the most important morphophysiological properties, and tries to establish a genetic relationship between different species in the sense of a unity of origin. The Linnaean classification represents a significant step forward compared to all classifications that existed before it. But there is a great difference between his classification of the animal world and the classification of the plant world in regard to their approximation to the natural classification. Consider first the classification of animals.

Linnaeus took the heart of animals as the main feature for classification and divided it into six classes.

This division into six classes represented a significant step forward, refinement and approximation to the natural classification. But at the same time, it contained a number of errors: for example, both reptiles and amphibians were classified as amphibians, and all invertebrates were combined into two classes - worms and insects. The division of classes into detachments contained a number of gross errors, which Linnaeus himself knew and constantly corrected. Thus, the class of mammals was first divided into 7 orders or orders, and the latter were divided into 47 genera; in the 8th Linnaean edition there were 8 orders and 39 genera of mammals, and in the 12th edition there were 8 orders and 40 roles.

Linnaeus approached the division into orders and genera already purely formally, sometimes taking into account one particular feature, such as teeth, and therefore the arrangement of species according to orders is artificial. Along with a very faithful combination of closely related species, he often combined animals that were far from each other into one order, or, conversely, distributed close, related species into different orders. So, for the first time in science, Linnaeus united the primate detachment: man, monkeys (higher and lower) and lemurs, but at the same time he mistakenly added a bat to the same place.

The characteristics of the order of primates are as follows: “The front teeth have 4 in the upper jaw, which stand parallel to each other; the fangs stand apart from the others; nipples, of which they have two, lie on the chest, legs - similar to hands - with rounded flat nails. The front legs are separated by the clavicles; they feed on fruits for which they climb trees.

The characteristic of the first genus of the order of primates is given as follows: "genus I. Man, Homo, has a direct vertical position, moreover, the female sex has a hymen and monthly cleansing." Homo (man) is a generic name, and Linnaeus assigns man and the great apes to this genus. In this association of man with anthropoid apes, Linnaeus's great courage for that time was expressed. The attitude of his contemporaries to this can be judged from the letter of Linnaeus to Gmelin:

“It is objectionable that I place man among the anthropomorphic, but man knows himself. Let's leave the words, it doesn't matter to me what name we use, but I ask you and the whole world the generic difference between man and ape, which (would follow) from the foundations of natural history. I most definitely don't know any; if someone pointed out to me at least one thing ... If I called a person a monkey, or, on the contrary, all theologians would attack me. Maybe I should have done it on the duty of science. Further, Linnaeus attributed the rhinoceros, elephant, walrus, sloth, anteater and armadillo to the second order Bruta (heavy animals), combining them on the basis of the following features: “they have no front teeth at all, legs are equipped with strong nails. The gait is quiet, heavy. They mostly feed on fruits and crush their food. Of these animals, according to the modern classification, the sloth, armadillo and anteater belong to the order of edentulous (Edentata), the elephant to the order of proboscis (Proboscidea), the rhinoceros to the order of equids (Peryssodactyla) and the walrus to the order of carnivores (Cagnivora), suborder of pinnipeds (Pinnipedia).

If Linnaeus combined the genera belonging to four different orders into one order of “heavy” (Bruta), then at the same time the genera belonging to the same order according to the modern natural classification (for example, walrus and seal) fell into different orders (walrus to heavy, seal to animals).

Thus, the Linnaean classification of animals, despite its undeniable positive value, consisting primarily in the fact that it provided a system that scientists could later use, was artificial. Nevertheless, for its time, of course, it played a very important role and was a significant approximation to the natural system in comparison with all previous classifications.

The Linnean classification of plants was more artificial, although it was distinguished by the greatest simplicity and convenience. Line based it on the structure of the reproductive system (the number of stamens and pistils, whether they grow together or remain free). In constructing this system, he proceeded from his law of constancy of numbers, according to which each plant individual is distinguished by a certain number of flower parts (stamens and pistils). According to these characteristics, he divided all plants into 24 classes (i.e., he artificially divided plants according to one characteristic). In turn, the classes were divided into 68 units.

When dividing plants into orders, Linnaeus managed to create a more natural system, almost unchanged in the future. But when asked why he divided the plants into groups (orders), Linnaeus referred to “a certain intuitive feeling, to the hidden instinct of a naturalist: I cannot give a basis for my orders,” he said, “but those who come after follow me, find these grounds and make sure that I was right. But still, in the taxonomy of plants, Linnaeus did not avoid mistakes. So, according to the number of stamens (2), he combined into one class such distant plants as lilac and one of the cereals - the golden spikelet.

In § 30 of the Philosophy of Botany (p. 170, ed., 1801), Linnaeus writes: “The marriage system (Systema sexuale) is that which is based on the male and female parts of the flower. All plants according to this system are divided into classes (classes), categories (ordines), sub-categories (Subordines), genera (genera), species (species). Classes are the chief distinctions of plants, based on the number, proportionality of position, and combination of stamens... Order is the subdivision of a class, so that where a large number of species are to be dealt with, they do not escape our attention, and the mind easily catches them. It’s easier, after all, to cope with 10 births than with 100 at once ...

... Species (spesies) are units that are contained in the genus as descended from seeds, remain forever the same.

In the last sentence, Linnaeus asserts the constancy of species. In this work, which outlines the basic principles and views of Linnaeus, he metaphysically develops the ideas of his era about the immutability and isolation of species and genera, of which there are as many as “they were created by God.” The disciples of Linnaeus were already talking about the variability of species. So, Greberg, in the collection of works of his students Amoenitates academicae (Academic Leisures, 19 volumes of dissertations), published in 1749 by Linnaeus, openly suggests that all species of the same genus used to be one species; at the same time, he sees the cause of variability in crossing. The biographers of Linnaeus (for example, Komarov) can be found doubting whether Linnaeus shared this point of view; he is considered firmly ostensibly convinced of the permanence of forms. But in Species Plantarum, published in 1753, that is, only two years after the Philosophy of Botany, there are quite clear statements about the variability of species; At the same time, it is especially interesting that Linnaeus sees the cause of variability not only in crossings (like Greberg), but also in the influence of the external environment. Thus, on pp. 546-547, Linnaeus describes two species of Thalictrum: F. flavum and T. lucidum; while about T. lucidura he writes: “Is the plant different enough from T. flavum? “It seems to be the daughter of time.” He goes on to describe a species of Achillea ptarmica from the temperate zone of Europe and another species of Achillea alpina from Siberia, and concludes with the following suggestion: “Could not the place (i.e., external conditions) form this species from the previous one?”

Even more direct indications of the origin of species (not varieties) from others are contained in the second, corrected and supplemented edition of the book Species of Plants. Thus, on p. 322 he writes of Beta vulgaris: "It may have originated in foreign countries from Beta maritima." Regarding Clematis maritima, Linnaeus writes: “Magnol and Rey regard it as a variety of Clematis flanimula. In my opinion, it is better to consider it (derived) from Clematis recta under the influence of changes in the soil.

One could give many more examples of Linnaeus's perfectly clear statements about the origin of various species from other species under the influence of the external environment. I think that the foregoing quite clearly indicates a significant evolution of Linnaeus's views.

In fact, it would be difficult to expect anything else from a scientist who possessed the personal qualities of Linnaeus - exceptional erudition and memory, the title of the most diverse species and absolutely outstanding powers of observation. Linnaeus wrote about himself: Lyux faritalpa domi (“a lynx in the field, a mole in the house”), that is, if he is blind at home, like a mole, on excursions he is vigilant and observant, like a lynx.

Thanks to correspondence with botanists around the world, Linnaeus collected botanical garden at Uppsala University, plants from all over the world and perfectly knew the flora known at that time. Naturally, his views on the immutability of species had to be revised. And only, perhaps, a well-known fear public opinion and attacks from theologians, it is explained that in the “Philosophy of Botany”, published in 1751, that is, just two years before the “Species of Plants” (and two years after the “Academic Leisures”, where they write about variability disciples), his views did not find a clear expression. On the other hand, the possibility is not ruled out that later, during the period of struggle around the evolutionary idea, its opponents used the authority of Linnaeus, relying on his early works and creating for him the glory of a consistent metaphysician; now it is necessary, as it were, to protect the scientific reputation of Linnaeus, restoring his true views and their evolution over the course of almost 50 years of his scientific activity.

But, of course, if in the second half of his scientific activity he allowed the variability of individual species, their origin from other species, this does not mean that he stood on the point of view of the evolution of the organic world, since, apparently, regarding genera he was convinced that "the constancy of childbirth is the basis of botany."

At the same time, Linnaeus, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, provided material for proving and substantiating the evolutionary idea, since he approached the creation of a natural classification of plants and animals known to him, which was then created by the works of Jussieu, De- Kandolya and others. Natural classification, asserting the genetic connection of organic forms, develops into an evolutionary doctrine, is, as it were, the basis for it. The dialectical course of the development of science is clearly seen in this example. Scientists who were looking for and trying to create a natural classification - and John Ray, and Linnaeus, and Cuvier - did not themselves share the idea of ​​evolution or, like Cuvier, for example, even actively fought against it. But nevertheless, their work on the creation of a natural classification system that establishes the relationship of species to each other, the origin of species from the same genus, etc., naturally led to the conclusion about the variability of species and, further, about the evolution of the organic world. This explains why the natural classification appears before evolutionary doctrine, and not after it, and that it represents, as it were, one of the sources and one of the proofs of the idea of ​​evolution.

Engels wrote about the development of biology: “The deeper this research penetrated, the more precisely it was done, the more this frozen system (of immutable species, genera, classes, kingdoms) of immutable organic nature blurred under the hands. Not only did the boundaries between individual species of plants and animals disappear hopelessly, but animals appeared, like amphiox and lopidosiren, which definitely mocked all the classifications that existed before ”(“ D.P. ”). And further: “But it is precisely these seemingly insoluble and irreconcilable polar opposites, these hereditarily fixed boundaries of classification, that have given modern theoretical natural science a limited metaphysical character. The recognition that these opposites and differences in nature have only a relative significance, that, on the contrary, the immobility and absoluteness attributed to nature are introduced into it only by our reflection - this recognition constitutes the main point of the dialectical understanding of nature.

Thus, the work done by Liney played a colossal role in the development of natural science in the 18th century.

Moscow, 13/IV 1936

Who is Carl Linnaeus, contribution to science, what are his? What is this natural scientist known for? Let's consider today.

How did Carl Linnaeus live, what is his biography?

The future scientist was born in 1707 in Sweden, in the family of a local priest. The family did not live well, his father had a small plot of land, where the young naturalist first discovered the world of plants. On the land plots of his parents, the boy collected various herbs and flowers, dried them and created the first herbariums in his life.

Like many outstanding personalities, Karl did not show great aspirations in relation to science as a child. Teachers considered him untalented and unpromising, and therefore did not pay much attention to him.

Time passed, the future scientist grew up, but interest in the living world did not fade away. However, his parents sent him to Lundsky medical University, where Karl studied many scientific disciplines, including chemistry and biology.

After being transferred to Uppsala University in 1728, the young man met his peer Peter Artedi. Later, it was in collaboration with him that Karl would begin joint work on revising natural history classifications.

In 1729, Charles met with Professor Olof Celsius, who was passionately fond of botany. This event turned out to be fateful for the young man, since the young man got the opportunity to access scientific library.

First scientific expedition

In 1732, Karl was sent to Lapland by the Royal Scientific Society, from where the future genius brought a whole collection of minerals, plants and animals. Later, Linnaeus presented a report, which he called the "Flora of Lapland", but these works did not glorify the future scientist.

However, this report touches on very important points. Linnaeus first mentions such a concept as a classification of plants, consisting of 24 classes. The Swedish universities of those years were not able to issue diplomas and therefore there was a need to move to another country. After the end of such educational institution the young specialist did not have the right to carry out either scientific or teaching activities.

Moving to Holland

In the first year of his stay in Holland, Linnaeus defends his dissertation and becomes a doctor of medicine. Nevertheless, the scientist does not put aside his passion for botany, combining medical practice and scientific activity.

In 1735, Linnaeus presents his outstanding work, entitled The System of Nature. It is this work that will glorify the scientist and form the basis of the classification of plant and animal species.

Linnaeus proposed the so-called binary nomenclature for naming species (used to this day). Each plant and animal was designated by two Latin words: the first - was determined by the genus, the second - by the species.

The classification of plants was simple. The number and location of leaves, the size of stamens and pistils, the size of plants, and other criteria were at the heart of determining the generic affiliation.

Binary nomenclature was enthusiastically received and quickly and easily took root in the scientific world, as it put an end to the existence of complete chaos in the classification of objects in the living world.

This work has been reprinted 10 times. The reason for this lies in the advancement of scientific thought and the discovery of new plant species. The final version was presented to the scientific world in 1761, where Linnaeus describes 7540 species and 1260 genera of plants. Belonging to the same genus determined the degree of kinship of objects of the plant world.

In his botanical works, the scientist for the first time determined the presence of sexes in plants. This discovery was created on the basis of the study of the structure of pistils and stamens. Until that time, it was believed that plants are devoid of sexual characteristics.

The scientist himself discovered about one and a half thousand new plant species, to which he gave exact description and determined the place in the classification he created. Thus, the plant kingdom was greatly expanded by the writings of Linnaeus.

Passion for zoology

Linnaeus also contributed to zoology. The scientist classified animal world, in which he distinguished the following classes: insects, fish, amphibians, birds, mammals and worms. Carl quite accurately attributed the human species to the class of mammals, the order of primates.

Even having convinced himself of the possibility of interspecific crossing and the emergence of new species, Karl still adhered to the theological theory of the origin of life. Any deviation from religious dogmas Linnaeus regarded as an apostasy, deserving of blame.

Other classifications

An inquisitive mind did not give him rest. Already on the "slope" of life, the scientist made attempts to classify minerals, diseases and medicinal substances, but it was no longer possible to repeat the past success, and these works did not receive an enthusiastic perception of the scientific community.

Last years life

In 1774, the scientist fell seriously ill. In the struggle for his life, he spent four whole years and in 1778 the outstanding botanist died. Nevertheless, his merits to science can hardly be overestimated, since Linnaeus "laid the foundation" of botany and zoology and largely determined the trends of further development. In London, to this day there is a scientific society that bears the name of a great scientist, at the same time being one of the leading scientific centers.