Linnaeus, Carolus

views updated

Linnaeus, Carolus (1707–78) ( Carl von Linné) Swedish botanist and taxonomist. Linnaeus' Systema Naturae (1735) laid the foundation of taxonomy by including all known organisms in a single classification system. He was one of the first scientists to define clearly the differences between species, and he devised the system of binomial nomenclature, which gave standardized Latin names to every organism.

More From encyclopedia.com