Homely Scientist

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species …

Love it or hate it, if you do anything related to living things, you know it. Today, then, is a special day:

Most scientists say that 272 years after it was introduced, the naming system works just fine. Evolutionary theory and molecular biology have transformed our understanding of life. Computers and digital media have more recently upended longstanding theories of information management. But, over nearly three centuries, the classification system used to organize much of our biological knowledge has remained remarkably arbitrary and ancient: The so-called binomial system of genus and species that Linse and thousands of other biologists use today was first proposed by a Swedish biologist born 300 years ago Wednesday, Carolus Linnaeus. Source: Wired Hat tip David Weinberger

Looking at the Wikipedia entry for Linneaus, I learned that he made up his own last name and used the linden (aka lime … not the fruit) tree as the source. And he went to the unversity (Lund) that a friend of mine attended and got her Ph.D. from.

How many genera can you name? How many genus species pairs do you know?

Tags: Linneaus

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