The Man Who Organized Nature

April 15, 2023
A Swedish scholar chronicles the life of the indispensable botanist and taxonomist. Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) formalized the modern binomial system of naming organisms. Broberg (1942-2022), former professor emeritus of history of ideas and sciences at Sweden's Lund University, provides a detailed account of his subject's work as well as his "darker aspects." The son of a country pastor, Linnaeus overcame poverty to impress scholars and acquire patrons, who financed expeditions across Sweden, beginning with a yearlong trek through Lapland, to document wildlife and people as well as economic possibilities. Beginning in his 20s, he published scores of books on botany and zoology, and his naming system gradually won over other naturalists. By middle age, he was world famous, and travelers deluged him with their discoveries. Definitely not ahead of his time, Linnaeus never doubted that all species came from the hand of God and remained unchanged, but he was a stickler for evidence. He rejected spontaneous generation and most legendary creatures (unicorns, dragons) that other naturalists accepted. That his classification of plants according to their sexual parts was denounced as obscene is probably exaggerated, but his conclusion that humans were animals shocked many contemporaries. Scholars still debate whether his classification of modern humans is racist, and Broberg digs into this element of his legacy. Writing for a general audience, the author mostly avoids turgid academic prose, but those who are less scientifically inclined may struggle with some passages. They can easily ignore the generous footnotes and bibliography but not the dense thicket of quotations. Within the text, if Linnaeus quarrels with a colleague, Broberg describes the disagreement and then follows with a long excerpt from a letter in which Linnaeus recites his complaints. Readers will lose little by skipping past any pair of quotation marks. Everything you ever wanted to know about Linnaeus and more.

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April 10, 2023
This mostly rewarding biography by Broberg (The History of the Night), who was a professor emeritus of history at Lund University, Sweden, before his death in 2022, chronicles the life of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the Swedish scientist who developed the modern taxonomic system for classifying animals and plants. Linnaeus took an interest in nature from a young age and learned to identify the plants that grew around his childhood home. He studied botany at Uppsala University and soon after graduating revolutionized the natural sciences by advocating for the classification of each plant and animal by two Latin names (the first their genus, the second their species), as well as making the radical argument that humans should be included in the animal kingdom. Broberg illuminates the factors behind the actual work of science by delving into Linnaeus’s efforts to find patrons for his work, and the author’s diligent research, which draws on previously unpublished diaries and correspondence, brings the esteemed naturalist to life. However, the consideration of Linnaeus’s contributions to race science (his most famous work, Systema Naturae, designated four human “varieties” and placed them in a hierarchy) is glaringly brief. Though this skimps on the unsavory parts of Linnaeus’s legacy, it will otherwise satisfy history of science scholars. Illus.