How did linnaeus affect taxonomy?
1 Answer
Jul 13, 2014
Before Carl Linnaeus, plants especially. were named with impossibly long Latin names. He used a two name classification method (binomial). This was much easier to learn and to fit into groups of others.
He was also known as Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus (a count), and is often called the Father of Taxonomy.
His main work used plants even though he went to medical school. Botany was important then as many plants were used to treat diseases.
He had an opponent, botanist Johann Siegesbeck, who called his classification of plants based on their reproductive organs as "loathsome harlotry".
Linnaeus had his revenge, however; he named a small, useless European weed Siegesbeckia .
Taken from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html
