So, LINNEAUS NAMED US

ON THIS DAY in 1707, the man who invented the terms Homo sapiens and Cannabis sativa was born in southern Sweden. At the age of 28, Carl Linnaeus published a small book called "Systema Naturae" — a system of nature. Although it was only 14 pages long, with a limited circulation (only 29 copies still exist), this book changed the way that humanity looks at the natural world.Linnaeus' little book provided a simple way of classifying organisms (is it an insect or a mammal?) and of naming them (Homo sapiens). Although the details of the naming system we use have changed substantially — Linnaeus divided the natural world into three kingdoms (animals, plants and minerals); scientists now talk of five kingdoms — Homo sapiens is still Homo sapiens.Linnaeus proposed a hierarchical scheme in which each organism could be described in terms of its kingdom, class, order, genus and species — from the broadest category to the narrowest. By using Latin — the common scientific language of the time — Linnaeus was able to bypass the myriad folk names for animals and plants that made comparison of information from one country to another so difficult. He also integrated the growing conviction that like bred like, putting species at the heart of the natural world.Above all, Linnaeus argued that organisms should be classified on the basis of a small number of physical characteristics rather than, say, their habits (this animal flies, that one swims) or their use (these plants can be eaten, those are good for medicine). In the case of plants, Linnaeus used their sexual organs to distinguish one species from another. This not only led to a more effective classification, it also inadvertently provided 18th and 19th century ladies with a discreet way of initiating themselves in the facts of life.By the time "Systema Naturae" reached its 10th edition, in 1758, it named 4,400 species of animals and 7,700 species of plants, using Linnaeus' hierarchical scheme.