Nemesis divina

by Carl Linnaeus

Eric Miller's affordable, elegant translation of Nemesis divina by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) reveals a little-known side of the great natural historian. A classic of Swedish literature that influenced luminaries such as August Strindberg, Nemesis divina was composed over years, apparently for the edification of Linnaeus's wayward son Carl. A surprising field-guide to theodicy, the book explores the occult operation of a Theologia experimentalis , an "empirical theology," in the lives of men and women. Many of these people were known to Linnaeus himself. Eric Miller, an award-winning poet and scholar, set Linnaeus's fascinating and eloquent work in a broad literary and philosophical context, linking it to matters as diverse as New England Transcendentalism, the subculture of Black Metal, the Icelandic sagas and contemporary Swedish poetry. Nemesis divina will intrigue students of literature, religion, science, and philosophy alike.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1777

About the author

Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus or Carolus Linnaeus, also called Carl von Linné, founded the modern classification, presented in his influential work Systema Naturae , for plants and animals.

This physician and zoologist laid the biological naming scheme of binomial nomenclature. People know and also consider him as the father of taxonomy and also ecology.

Linnaeus received most of his higher education at Uppsala, where he began giving lectures in 1730. From 1735, he lived abroad, studied, and also published a first edition in the Netherlands. He then returned in 1738 as professor of medicine at Uppsala. In the 1740s, people sent him on several journeys to find organisms. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect even minerals and wrote several volumes. People most acclaimed him of the scientists in Europe.

The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message: "Tell him I know no greater man on earth." The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." Author Johan August Strindberg later wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist". People called and complimeted Linnaeus, princeps botanicorum (prince of botanists) and as "the Pliny of the north."

According to German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, the question of origin of man began with Linnaeus. He described humans just as any other species and thus helped later research in the history.

Linnaeus with the first edition began listing humans among the primates. During time at Hartekamp, he took the opportunity to examine several monkeys and noted similarities with man. He pointed out basically the same anatomy and found no other differences except speech. Thus, he placed man and monkeys under the same category, Anthropomorpha, meaning "manlike."

The twofold theological concerns thus arose. Putting man at the same level as monkeys or apes lowered the assumed spiritually higher position in the great chain. Second, because the Bible says that God created man in His image (theomorphism), if He not distinctly and separately designed humans, then He well created monkeys and apes in His image, which many persons ably accepted not. Asserting man as that type caused the conflict between worldviews, based on science and theology; this conflict simmered for a century until the much greater and still ongoing creation–evolution controversy began in earnest when Charles Darwin in 1859 published On the Origin of Species .

Major celebrations marked anniversaries of birth of Linnaeus, especially in centennial years.
Numerous postage stamps and banknotes bore his image. Numerous statues honor him in countries around the world. Since 1888, the Linnean society of London awarded the medal for excellence in zoology. The parliament approved merger of Växjö University and Kalmar college on 1 January 2010 to Linnaeus University. People named the twinflower genus Linnaea, the crater Linné on the Moon and the cobalt sulfide mineral linnaeite.

Reviews

[KarhuAnderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

von Linné sure had a hard on for God's sadistic vengeance. He definitely not much of a theologist though, falling into as simple contradictions as "God will punish for all wicked deeds, and tells you to help everyone you can, but if you help a wretch, even if you don't know they are one, God will also punish you".

Plain old fashion Conservative Christian Misogyny rears it's head as Carolus Linnaeus lists "signs of a wife who is a whore", including but not limited to:

Faking menstruation to avoid sex, lying flat on your back during sex while pressing down the vulva to get less pleasure, stretching out one leg to avoid feeling anything during sex and removing of the penis before climax to avoid pregnancy.

Though the most curious of his beliefs might be that the longer the pubic hair, the hornier the person.

[Markku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hämmentävän suorapuheinen katsaus Suomi-Ruotsin merkkimiehiin ja -naisiin sekä eri paikkakuntien pikkukihoihin. Mitään ei jää piiloon, synnit paljastetaan armotta. Ja niistä saatu rangaistus.