Linnaeus decisively broke through centuries of confusion over how to revise the classification system that had been in place since antiquity. With few parallels in the history of science, Linnaeus's contribution to botany will remain intact perhaps as long as the first classification system.

Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707, in Stenbrohult, Sweden. His father, a clergyman, maintained a small botanical garden on the parsonage grounds, where Linnaeus earned the nickname "little botanist." In 1716, Linnaeus entered a Latin school and began to formalize his interest in botany and the natural sciences. In 1727, he transferred to the University of Lund to study medicine, but he also undertook extensive botanical excursions. One year later, he went on to the University of Uppsala, which was considered a better school for medicine, but Linnaeus was disappointed to find that its facilities were no better than those at the University of Lund. Nevertheless, Uppsala...