Skip to main content

Carl Linnaeus one of the giant of natural science


In the 18th century, the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus introduced the scientific system of classifying plants and animals that is used all over the world to this day. Under this system, each living thing is assigned a name consisting of two Latin words. The first word is the name of the genus, and the second, the species. The classification of living things is called taxonomy. In 1737, Linnaeus published the first edition of his book titled Systema Naturae or System of Nature. Over the years, Linnaeus continued to develop his ideas and add new species so that the book grew in a period of about 30 years from 12 outsize pages in its first edition, to 2400 pages in its twelfth edition. This was the first serious attempt ever made to document all of our planet's species. It was a huge effort and it won Linnaeus acclaim as the 'Father of Taxonomy .

Popular posts from this blog

Why is Nicolas Copernicus considered to be a key figure in the field of astronomy ?

Nicholas Copernicus was 15 century astronomer and mathematician, translator artist and physicist among other things He is best known as the first astronomer to put forward the idea of a system in which the planets and planetary objects orbit the Sun. By 1508, Copernicus had begun to create his model of the planetary system, suggesting that the Sun, and not our Earth, was the centre of the Universe. His model of the Universe was accepted, whereas earlier models had not been, because his was more detailed and accurate. He also had a better formula for the calculation of the positions of the planets at different times of the year. The Roman Catholic Church criticised Copernicus' theories. It went so far as to ban his book 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium,' after he died, and it remained a forbidden book for almost three hundred years. The ideas of Copernicus were instrumental in the evolution of the field of astronomy. In fact, almost every notable astronomer who came afte...

What is Eratosthenes famous for?

He was famous as a mathematician and geographer. Eratosthenes produced a reliable, logical method to discover prime numbers. It's known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, and is still important in modern number theory in an updated form. Assuming that the Earth was a sphere, Eratosthenes calculated its size with good accuracy. He also calculated the tilt of Earth's axis fairly accurately. Eratosthenes produced the first map of the world which used meridian lines and parallel lines. These were similar to our modern lines of latitude and longitude. This great scientist can be said to have invented geography. In fact, today we still use the word he invented for this new discipline. Geo' was Greek for Earth' and 'graphy' meant 'field of study." Eratosthenes also wrote books on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, history, comedy, and poetry. His all-round knowledge made him the ideal choice for the most prestigious job an academic could en...

Why is Pythagoras considered one of the greatest scientists of all time?

Pythagoras was an Ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived more than 500 years before Christ. He spent most of his life in the Greek colonies in Sicily and southern Italy. He was also a philosopher, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Pythagoras had a group of disciples who followed him around, and taught other people what he had taught them. He made crucial contributions to modern philosophy, as well as mathematics, science, and religious mysticism. It is also believed that he had a significant influence on medicine, music, astronomy, and divination. Pythagoras is best known for the mathematical theory named after him. He is without doubt, one of the greatest scientists not only of the ancient world, but of all time.