Carl von Linné: The Development of the Idea of Binomial Nomenclature

Due to binomial classification system defined by Carl von Linné, it has been shown that living things that were thought to be independent from each other are actually in a relationship. This "binomial classification" idea corresponds to a leap in the history of human thought. Carl von Linné's original idea is a product of the specific conditions of the period, particularly the renaissance and reform movements and geographical discoveries, rather than an idea he produced alone. These movements are part of a chain of ideas that stretches from antiquity to the Medieval and then to the period called the Enlightenment. The aforementioned transformations generally affected the scientist, albeit indirectly, even in geographies far from Sweden, where Carl von Linné spent most of his life. As such, the binomial classification system stands before us as a result of scientific breakthroughs in central Europe. In this study, it will be tried to be explained by taking the opus magnum of Carl von Linne as an example, taking into account the course of scientific developments, which we can attribute to the European civilization, and the philosophical and social texture.

DEN TAKSONOMISKE TAKTSTOK

Nærværende artikel tager udgangspunkt i ny viden om fuglenes evolution på forskellige taksonomiske niveauer. Især artsniveauet nyder hobbyornitologernes bevågenhed, idet en videnskabeligt sanktioneret taksonomi på artsniveau muliggør en indbyrdes kappestrid om at opdage og afkrydse det størst mulige antal arter på forskellige afkrydsningslister. Fordi mange amatørornitologer har opbygget en høj grad af ekspertise, er de i stand til at interagere med professionelle eksperter. Feltfolket udgør på denne måde både en ressource for videnskaben og et eksternt, eller subalternt, korrektur, som i praksis kan gøre krav på at føre „taksonomiens taktstok“. Artiklen gennemgår otte udvalgte events i efteråret 2019 for at illustrere, hvordan sjældne fugle opdages, bestemmes og – ikke mindst ved granskning af fotos – efterbestemmes. Videnskabssociologien har siden 1960’erne udviklet sig i en postmodernistisk retning, som i sine identitetspolitiske afskygninger i 2020 blandt andet førte til, at Carl von Linné blev anklaget for at være den videnskabelige racismes grundlægger. Identitetspolitikken kan udgøre en udfordring for ornitologien, men foreløbig står idéen om, at arter har en central plads i den taksonomiske orden til troende. Ikke alt er sløret og multipelt, som postmodernismen foreskriver. Søgeord: ornitologi, fuglearter, taksonomi, ekspertise, falsifikation, postmodernisme

Lemurs before lemur : depictions of captive lemurs prior to Linnaeus

In 1758, Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) published the tenth edition of Systema Naturae , in which he formally described the most unique group of primates: lemurs. The story of the early human-mediated dispersal of lemurs from Madagascar, prior to their formalized descriptions, is a complex one. It touches on the birth of the standardization of modern zoology, empire building, and the growth of international trade and commerce, with many Fellows of the Royal Society contributing to the earliest observations of these animals in captive settings. Through the use of historical documents and artwork, we present this history in four parts: ‘Part I: The lemurs that became ‘lemurs’ (1746–1756)’, discusses the specific lemurs that Linnaeus used to describe the genera in the tenth and twelfth editions of Systema Naturae ; ‘Part II: Establishing the trade routes (1500–1662)’, examines seventeenth century captive lemurs and the role of the trade routes of the East India Companies in the transportation of lemurs from Madagascar; ‘Part III: Tracing the Bugée (1693–1732)’, reviews the lemurs identified by late seventeenth and early eighteenth century pre-Linnaean naturalists; and ‘Part IV: The chained lemur (1732–1761)’, concludes with eighteenth century lemurs in menageries and as luxury goods.

Classificação biológica nos livros didáticos: um estudo da contextualização histórica

O processo de organização e classificação são atividades inerentes ao ser humano, de modo que não seria diferente no universo da ciência. Assim, apesar da classificação biológica ser relevante para o estudo dos seres vivos, geralmente não é bem recebida pelos estudantes durante o processo de ensino. Uma das alternativas de ressignificar esse conteúdo é abordá-lo a partir de sua contextualização histórica. Essa abordagem, defendida por inúmeros estudiosos do ensino de ciências e biologia, pode ocorrer a partir dos conhecimentos do professor regente e/ou dos materiais didáticos utilizados nas aulas. Essa pesquisa buscou analisar de que maneira essa contextualização é abrangida no livro didático. A partir da interpretação qualitativa dos dados, utilizando o método de Análise de Conteúdo, constatamos que os livros didáticos analisados abarcam a contextualização histórico filosófica do conteúdo “classificação biológica” de maneira reduzida, tendo como personagem histórico de destaque o médico sueco Carl von Linné. Acreditamos que se faz urgente e necessário uma abordagem histórico filosófica mais abrangente nos livros didáticos, que promova aos estudantes uma aproximação com a ciência e uma ressignificação dos conteúdos biológicos.

First experimental evidence of hop fibres in historical textiles

Hop (Humulus lupulus) has been used in Scandinavia since at least the ninth century AD, as documented through archaeological findings and written, historical records. The written records are mainly focused on the use of cone-shaped flowers for beer brewing and medical purposes, but there are also records, for example, from the famous Swedish botanist Carl von Linne, who mentions the use of hop fibres for textile production. However, until now no experimental investigations have been published on the use of hop fibres in cultural heritage objects. A major reason for this has been the lack of a suitable characterization method. Hop is a bast fibre, just as flax and hemp and bast fibres cannot be distinguished from each other by simple optical inspection. Recently a new identification method for hop fibres was published by the authors of this article. Here we apply the new method in an investigation of two Swedish cultural heritage objects: (i) a woman’s garment from the nineteenth century, which was labelled as having an upper section made from coarse linen and a bottom section made of hemp and hop and (ii) a textile fragment from an eighteenth-century textile sample book, which was labelled as being made from hop. We show that the woman’s garment is made with hop and hemp fibres and the textile fragment from the textile sample book is made with hop. Our work provides the first direct proof that hop fibres were used for textiles in the past.

Biblioteca naturii: realitate și metaforă în clasificarea botanică

Rețeaua de metafore care învăluie cunoașterea științifică suscită astăzi interesul multor cercetători. O literatură de specialitate tot mai consistentă semnalează că gîndirea și exprimarea metaforică aduc științei atît beneficii cît și deservicii, astfel că obiectul principal al lucrării de față este de a sonda relevanța unor metafore generate de scris și potențate de prestigiul acestei tehnologii comunicative. Corelațiile și ramificările acestor matrice pot fi, la rigoare, cartografiate prin lectura textelor de referință. Interpretate ca noduri de rețea, operele fondatoare în știință au forța de a schimba traiectoria explorării științifice și a reconfigura felul în care înțelegem să ne raportăm la realitate. Întrucît asumarea sarcinii de a sonda arhitectura metaforică a tuturor textelor științifice de prim rang ar depăși cu mult mizele particulare ale lucrării de față, am preferat să reliefăm cîteva din matricele metaforice centrale ale tradiției scrisului pe care le regăsim în opera lui Carl von Linné, cu observația că, în posteritate, modelul clasic de categorizare impus în științele naturale de învățatul suedez a consolidat stabilitatea vocabularelor botanice vernaculare și a favorizat popularizarea și internaționalizarea multor denumiri științifice de plante. Axul în jurul căruia este organizată argumentarea este reprezentat de metafora bibliotecii.

Zur Poetik der Pflanzennamen in der Botanik: Carl von Linné

The aim of the following paper is to highlight the poetics of plant names in non-literary texts, namely in the writings of Carl Linnaeus. The first part of the article presents an overview of research on the question of whether plant names have (semantic) meaning. It details the systematics of botanical and vernacular nomenclature and interrogates the relationship between plant names and proper names. The following two parts are devoted to the founder of modern botany, Carl Linnaeus, whose lasting importance lies in systematizing existing plant names as well as establishing a code of rules for future nomenclature. By analyzing a scene in which a plant is (re)named as well as some of the naming rules in his Philosophia botanica (1751), the paper shows that the Swedish nomenclator botanicus already took the poetic dimensions of plant names into account.

Deep microbial community profiling along the fermentation process of pulque, a major biocultural resource of Mexico

Some of the biggest non-three plants endemic to Mexico were called metl in the Nahua culture. During colonial times they were renamed with the antillan word maguey. This was changed again by Carl von Linné who called them Agave (a greco-latin voice for admirable). For several Mexican prehispanic cultures, Agave species were not only considered as crops, but also part of their biocultural resources and cosmovision. Among the major products obtained from some Agave spp since pre-hispanic times is the alcoholic beverage called pulque or octli. This beverage represents a precolumbian biotechnological development obtained by the natural fermentation of the mead (aguamiel) from such plants. The pulque played a central role in mexican prehispanic cultures, mainly the Mexica and the Tolteca, where it was considered as sacred. For modern Mexicans, pulque is still part of their heritage and, in recent times, there has been a renewed interest in this ancient beverage, due to its high content in nutrients such as essential amino acids. We focus this study in the microbial diversity involved in pulque fermentation process, specially because it is still produced using classic antique technologies,. In this work, we report the microbiome of pulque fermentation stages, using massive sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) for describing bacterial and fungal diversity and dynamics along pulque production. In this study, we are providing the most diverse catalogue of microbes during pulque production with 57 identified bacterial genus and 94 fungal species, these findings allowed us to identify core microbes resilient during pulque production which point to be potential biomarkers exclusive to each fermentation stage.Our approach allowed the identification of a broader microbial diversity in PulqueWe increased 4.4 times bacteria genera and 40 times fungal species detected in mead.Newly reported bacteria genera and fungal species associated to Pulque fermentation

O essencialismo na classificação de Lineu e a repercussão dessa controvérsia na Biologia

ResumoNos últimos dois séculos, Lineu e toda taxonomia tradicional têm sido acusados de exercerem uma prática essencialista, pautada na descrição de tipos. Ernest Mayr foi um dos que contribuíram para disseminar essas ideias que passaram a ser consideradas como verdades na Biologia. Entretanto, nas últimas duas décadas, historiadores e filósofos da Biologia contestaram esse argumento oferecendo novas análises que corrigem o anacronismo efetuado na história das classificações biológicas. Neste artigo, nosso objetivo é argumentar, com o auxílio de obras originais de Lineu e fontes secundárias provenientes de estudiosos da vida e do trabalho do sueco, bem como de historiadores e filósofos da Biologia, por que a classificação biológica lineana não é fundamentada no essencialismo platônico ou aristotélico. Observamos que as obras e o contexto de Lineu foram mal interpretados, que suas influências na ciência eram totalmente contrárias à lógica escolástica e que, apesar de usar termos como essência, gênero e espécie em suas obras, não há qualquer relação com a lógica aristotélica. Palavras-chave: Carl von Linné; Classificação dos Seres Vivos; História da Ciência. AbstractIn the last two centuries, Linnaeus and all traditional taxonomy has been accused of exercising an essentialist practice, based on the description of types. Ernst Mayr was one of those who contributed to disseminate these ideas that came to be considered as truths in Biology. However, in the last two decades historians and philosophers of biology have contested this argument by offering new analyzes that correct the anachronism in the history of biological classifications. In this article, our objective is to argue, with the help of original works by Linnaeus and secondary sources from scholars of the life and work of the Swedish, as well as historians and philosophers of Biology, because the linear biological classification is not based on essentialism Platonic or Aristotelian. We note that Linnaeus' works and context were misinterpreted, that his influences on science were wholly contrary to scholastic logic, and that in spite of using terms like essence, genus, and species in his works, he had no connection with Aristotelian logic. Keywords: Carl von Linné; Classification of Living Beings; History of Science.

Wie das Moosglöckchen zu seinem Namen kam: Geschichten und Gedanken zum 300. Geburtstag von Carl von Linné -Teil 2

Im Jahr 2007 wird der 300. Geburtstag von Carl von Linné gefeiert. Der Beitrag beschreibt sein wissenschaftliches Werk sowie sein Erbe. Zudem wird erläutert, wie das Moosglöckchen den Namen Linnaea borealis bekam.