Description
Book SynopsisCarl Linnaeus (1707-1778) is the man who gave living organisms two Latin names. This book gives a portrait of Linnaeus the man, charting his rise from a poor student at Lund University to Professor of Medicine at Uppsala and a founder of the Royal Academy of Sciences.
Trade Review"This evocative account of Linnaeus's life and achievements has become a natural history classic. Wilfrid Blunt beautifully captures Linnaeus's zest for botany and its key place in the intellectual ferment of the eighteenth century, showing how the Linnean system was used by plant explorers from America to Japan to Lapland and helped establish the foundation of modern botanical science—as well as introducing new species to gardens all over the world. The impact of this system on the culture of Linnaeus's day was incalculable, ranging from the classification of diseases to fashionable illustrative art or spicy innuendo in writing about the sex life of plants. And the man himself was lively and likeable, with an eye for a joke in naming species after friends or enemies. This new edition of Blunt's story of the "Prince of Flowers" will make a very welcome addition to any plant-lover's library."
—Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: VoyagingTable of ContentsIntroduction by William T. Stearn 6 PART I: THE YEARS OF STRUGGLE 1707-1735 1.Childhood 12 2.Lund 19 3.Uppsala 24 4.The Lapland journey: Lycksele Lappmark 38 5.The Lapland journey: Lule and Torne Lappmark 56 6.Work and play 71 PART II: IN SEARCH OF FAME 1735-1738 1.Germany 84 2.Holland 92 3.George Clifford 99 4.A month in England 109 5.Hortus Cliffortianus 115 6.Correspondents and critics 119 7.Farwell to Holland 123 PART III: THE PRINCE OF BOTANISTS 1738-1778 1.Physician in Stockholm 130 2.Oland and Gotland 1741 137 3.Professor in Uppsala 146 4.Vastergotland 1746 159 5.Linnaeus en pantoufles 166 6.The Apostles 185 7.Skane 1749 8.Friends and books 209 9.The man of property 219 10.The closing years 1722-8 230 11.The Linnaean collections 239 Author's bibliography 243 Carl Linnaeus chronology 244 Appendix I by William Stearn 246 Appendix II by C. J. Humphries, Natural History Museum 253 Bibliography 254 Acknowledgments 261 Index 262
