The king of flowers

: : this year Sweden celebrates Carl Linnaeus, .the king of flowers. , on his 300 year birthday. Carl Linnaeus can, as it's expressed below, "claim may magnificent honours". but what I would like to highlight, and what I personally feel thankful for are Swede's special relationship with nature. I think of it almost as a seed that he planted in us, as a nation, which has continued to grow and is still to this day, so deeply rooted in our culture and in each individual. One aspect of Swedish life that I miss the most, access to nature and people's respect and love for nature.

Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778
By Claes Britton

The great Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus can claim many magnificent honours. He was, beyond doubt, one of the most influential scientists in history, crucial to our present day understanding of how the species on this planet relate to one another, and widely acclaimed as one of the most important progenitors of Charles Darwin. Linnaeus, who was trained and practised as a physician, was the first ever to define the human being as an animal among other animals, naming it Homo sapiens.

As such, Carl Linnaeus is surely the most famous Swede of all times internationally, and something of a forefather of contemporary Swedish science. Linnaeus was also the foremost explorer of the vast country of Sweden. He travelled extensively, meticulously studying and classifying the nature, people and culture of region after region, starting with his famous voyage to remote subpolar Lapland. As Linnaeus was also a brilliant and powerful author, his records of these travels, as well as other writings, are living classics, still widely read today.

It is also fair to say that Carl Linnaeus, more than any other single person, implanted in our national soul that very special relationship with nature that we Swedes continue to experience so profoundly to this day.

Article excerpt from linnaeus300

linne2007 [additional information here]