What do you think?
Rate this book
The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus
A new biography of Carl Linnaeus, offering a vivid portrait of Linnaeus's life and work
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), known as the father of modern biological taxonomy, formalized and popularized the system of binomial nomenclature used to classify plants and animals. Linnaeus himself classified thousands of species; the simple and immediately recognizable abbreviation "L" is used to mark classifications originally made by Linnaeus. This biography, by the leading authority on Linnaeus, offers a vivid portrait of Linnaeus's life and work. Drawing on a wide range of previously unpublished sources--including diaries and personal correspondence--as well as new research, it presents revealing and original accounts of his family life, the political context in which he pursued his work, and his eccentric views on sexuality.
The Man Who Organized Nature describes Linnaeus's childhood in a landscape of striking natural beauty and how this influenced his later work. Linnaeus's Lutheran pastor father, knowledgeable about plants and an enthusiastic gardener, helped foster an early interest in botany. The book examines the political connections that helped Linnaeus secure patronage for his work, and untangles his ideas about sexuality. These were not, as often assumed, an attempt to naturalize gender categories but more likely reflected the laissez-faire attitudes of the era. Linnaeus, like many other brilliant scientists, could be moody and egotistical; the book describes his human failings as well as his medical and scientific achievements. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Man Who Organized Nature--one of the only biographies of Linnaeus to appear in English--provides new and fascinating insights into the life of one of history's most consequential and enigmatic scientists.
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), known as the father of modern biological taxonomy, formalized and popularized the system of binomial nomenclature used to classify plants and animals. Linnaeus himself classified thousands of species; the simple and immediately recognizable abbreviation "L" is used to mark classifications originally made by Linnaeus. This biography, by the leading authority on Linnaeus, offers a vivid portrait of Linnaeus's life and work. Drawing on a wide range of previously unpublished sources--including diaries and personal correspondence--as well as new research, it presents revealing and original accounts of his family life, the political context in which he pursued his work, and his eccentric views on sexuality.
The Man Who Organized Nature describes Linnaeus's childhood in a landscape of striking natural beauty and how this influenced his later work. Linnaeus's Lutheran pastor father, knowledgeable about plants and an enthusiastic gardener, helped foster an early interest in botany. The book examines the political connections that helped Linnaeus secure patronage for his work, and untangles his ideas about sexuality. These were not, as often assumed, an attempt to naturalize gender categories but more likely reflected the laissez-faire attitudes of the era. Linnaeus, like many other brilliant scientists, could be moody and egotistical; the book describes his human failings as well as his medical and scientific achievements. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Man Who Organized Nature--one of the only biographies of Linnaeus to appear in English--provides new and fascinating insights into the life of one of history's most consequential and enigmatic scientists.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2023
About the author
Gunnar Broberg
28 books4 followersGunnar Broberg (born 1942) is since 1990 Professor in History of Science and Ideas at Lund University, Sweden. Among other writings, Prof. Broberg has written about the compulsory sterilization activities in Sweden and about the scientist Carl Linnaeus. In 2005 he was elected Chair of the Royal Humanistic Scientific Society in Lund (Kungliga Humanistiska Vetenskapssamfundet i Lund). He was the editor of the book Gyllene äpplen (Golden apples), which won the August Prize (Augustpriset) in 1992
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 28, 2023
Inspirerend en onverwachts boeiend.
Deze zelfgemaakte man was slordig, matig in taal, tekende als een 5 -jarige, goedgelovig, at 2,5kg aardbeien per dag omdat ie dacht dat het jicht bestrad, maar had net dat handige, ondernemende, geobsedeerde, zelfverzekerde, ijdele, in een zin slimme wat hem ongelofelijk ver bracht. Het is interessant om te zien hoe hij zijn leven opbouwde.
Het boek loopt min of meer in chronologische volgorde, maar in elk hoofdstuk wordt één onderwerp behandelt: familie, eten, dat soort dingen. Het tempo lag onverwachts hoog, maar er komen veel eigennamen en latijnse en zweedse termen voorbij die niet altijd relevant zijn voor de rest van het verhaal. Al heeft die volledigheid ook wel wat.
Ik kreeg een kijkje in zijn brieven en ik ging goed op de afbeeldingen van de portretten, de voorbladen van papers, foto's van zijn woningen enz.
Het boek is ook inspirerend voor academici, want hij hield zich bezig met vergelijkbare zaken als lui nu.
Laat je ook niet afleiden door de elitaire cover en opmaak. Het leest gewoon leuk weg.
Deze zelfgemaakte man was slordig, matig in taal, tekende als een 5 -jarige, goedgelovig, at 2,5kg aardbeien per dag omdat ie dacht dat het jicht bestrad, maar had net dat handige, ondernemende, geobsedeerde, zelfverzekerde, ijdele, in een zin slimme wat hem ongelofelijk ver bracht. Het is interessant om te zien hoe hij zijn leven opbouwde.
Het boek loopt min of meer in chronologische volgorde, maar in elk hoofdstuk wordt één onderwerp behandelt: familie, eten, dat soort dingen. Het tempo lag onverwachts hoog, maar er komen veel eigennamen en latijnse en zweedse termen voorbij die niet altijd relevant zijn voor de rest van het verhaal. Al heeft die volledigheid ook wel wat.
Ik kreeg een kijkje in zijn brieven en ik ging goed op de afbeeldingen van de portretten, de voorbladen van papers, foto's van zijn woningen enz.
Het boek is ook inspirerend voor academici, want hij hield zich bezig met vergelijkbare zaken als lui nu.
Laat je ook niet afleiden door de elitaire cover en opmaak. Het leest gewoon leuk weg.
July 24, 2021
Interesting historical figure, but the text was too academic for me. I would have liked more story, less jumping around in time and less name dropping if there is no story connected to the name.
October 9, 2023
Ett väldigt omfattande verk som tyvärr blir lite långdraget för mig som inte hyser ett ytterst djupt intresse för Linné och hans omvärld. Det är även fördelaktigt om läsaren begriper 1700-tals-svenska samt latin.
August 22, 2023
There are some individuals in the history of science who everyone with a vague interest in the subject knows existed, but who remain shadowy figures, known for what they did but with little more to go on. One such was Carl von Linné, the Swedish scientist known far better by his Latinised surname Linnaeus.
This is no lightweight study at 410 pages with another 44 pages of notes and sources. It's arguable it does go into rather more detail than the typical popular science reader would want - but it is generally readable and certainly puts Linnaeus into an appropriate context. In fact, I was surprised just how much I wanted to come back and read more, as I often find in biographies that after a while I get fed up and would prefer to have more of the science and less of the life.
It might seem a little surprising that the one thing Linnaeus is universally known for gets relatively scant coverage. His binomial nomenclature - the species names such as Homo sapiens or Solanum tuberosum (potatoes) that are used to identify each living thing - only get a handful of mentions in the index, popping up almost in passing in the main text. This is because the two main drivers of the structure are Linnaeus's life and his publications. He produced a vast output, much of which wasn't directly linked to his series of editions of the key work giving the structure that lay behind that nomenclature, Systema Naturae (though this does get two chapters pretty much to itself) and it's interesting to see how much does go beyond this central piece of work.
I particularly liked the occasional one-page asides (with accompanying illustration), such as the 'desirable tea bush' where we discover that Linnaeus wrote 'Thée and coffe are novelties, always to be drunk hot so that by drinking we wash out our stomachs as they are truly rendered lax thereby: these concoctions bring nothing good.' Later apparently he changed his mind and became something of an addict, attempting to bring tea-growing to Sweden.
I don't deny that the book was sometimes a little hard going. There is so much detail here that it can sometimes be hard for the key elements and particularly any scientific implications to shine through. Even so, this is a striking addition to the list of key scientific biographies.
This is no lightweight study at 410 pages with another 44 pages of notes and sources. It's arguable it does go into rather more detail than the typical popular science reader would want - but it is generally readable and certainly puts Linnaeus into an appropriate context. In fact, I was surprised just how much I wanted to come back and read more, as I often find in biographies that after a while I get fed up and would prefer to have more of the science and less of the life.
It might seem a little surprising that the one thing Linnaeus is universally known for gets relatively scant coverage. His binomial nomenclature - the species names such as Homo sapiens or Solanum tuberosum (potatoes) that are used to identify each living thing - only get a handful of mentions in the index, popping up almost in passing in the main text. This is because the two main drivers of the structure are Linnaeus's life and his publications. He produced a vast output, much of which wasn't directly linked to his series of editions of the key work giving the structure that lay behind that nomenclature, Systema Naturae (though this does get two chapters pretty much to itself) and it's interesting to see how much does go beyond this central piece of work.
I particularly liked the occasional one-page asides (with accompanying illustration), such as the 'desirable tea bush' where we discover that Linnaeus wrote 'Thée and coffe are novelties, always to be drunk hot so that by drinking we wash out our stomachs as they are truly rendered lax thereby: these concoctions bring nothing good.' Later apparently he changed his mind and became something of an addict, attempting to bring tea-growing to Sweden.
I don't deny that the book was sometimes a little hard going. There is so much detail here that it can sometimes be hard for the key elements and particularly any scientific implications to shine through. Even so, this is a striking addition to the list of key scientific biographies.
May 16, 2026
3.5 stars.
In the introductory chapters, Broberg's writing is often rambling, contextless information chosen seemingly at random. Sometimes he chooses a direction and sticks with it long enough to be comprehensible, but he will also pepper these sections with aggressive and petty arguments with other scholars. One rebuttal is a childesh "Really?" Any academic professional I've ever met would be ashamed to publish something like that.
As the book goes on, his writing is more traditional, for lack of a better word. I question why he chose to refer to the hydra incident without telling us what happened in any detail, but he decided it was necessary to repeat some quotes and facts into redundancy, such as the fact that Linnaeus wouldn’t drink tea or coffee because he thought hot drinks were unhealthy.
All that being said, I learned a decent amount about Linnaeus’s life that I hadn’t known before, and Broberg’s idiosyncrasies in writing actually became entertaining and somewhat endearing. It’s difficult to say how much of this is due to translation. I will list some of my favorite quotes below:
- Linnaeus was fifteen years old on the day he risked not getting any older.
- It didn’t take them long to find each other: one, a brown-eyed, quick-witted student, the other a sickly, one-eyed man.
- Linnaeus: “my legs had acquired twice as much meat as before.”
- The public road network was what it was.
- He was an orderly hoarder and one of the most devoted list-makers of all time, a squirrel-man — a Homo collector.
- Linnaeus made references to […] Santorio, whose book he kissed. [No further information provided.]
- The case of Linnaeus and the bananas.
- Many […] stood there in the end, perplexed to find themselves with their beards caught in the letterbox.
- supporting Kalm had emptied the kitty.
- Nature’s fuzziness fascinated him.
- “On Amboina, people have been seen who are as snowy white as chalk, they are called Cucorlacro. They whine like children and come out only at night and that is to steal, which is why people kill them and call them in their language ‘insects.’” [No further information.]
- another human would have grown out of the rump of the previous one. [Regarding potential similarities between humans and tapeworms.]
In the introductory chapters, Broberg's writing is often rambling, contextless information chosen seemingly at random. Sometimes he chooses a direction and sticks with it long enough to be comprehensible, but he will also pepper these sections with aggressive and petty arguments with other scholars. One rebuttal is a childesh "Really?" Any academic professional I've ever met would be ashamed to publish something like that.
As the book goes on, his writing is more traditional, for lack of a better word. I question why he chose to refer to the hydra incident without telling us what happened in any detail, but he decided it was necessary to repeat some quotes and facts into redundancy, such as the fact that Linnaeus wouldn’t drink tea or coffee because he thought hot drinks were unhealthy.
All that being said, I learned a decent amount about Linnaeus’s life that I hadn’t known before, and Broberg’s idiosyncrasies in writing actually became entertaining and somewhat endearing. It’s difficult to say how much of this is due to translation. I will list some of my favorite quotes below:
- Linnaeus was fifteen years old on the day he risked not getting any older.
- It didn’t take them long to find each other: one, a brown-eyed, quick-witted student, the other a sickly, one-eyed man.
- Linnaeus: “my legs had acquired twice as much meat as before.”
- The public road network was what it was.
- He was an orderly hoarder and one of the most devoted list-makers of all time, a squirrel-man — a Homo collector.
- Linnaeus made references to […] Santorio, whose book he kissed. [No further information provided.]
- The case of Linnaeus and the bananas.
- Many […] stood there in the end, perplexed to find themselves with their beards caught in the letterbox.
- supporting Kalm had emptied the kitty.
- Nature’s fuzziness fascinated him.
- “On Amboina, people have been seen who are as snowy white as chalk, they are called Cucorlacro. They whine like children and come out only at night and that is to steal, which is why people kill them and call them in their language ‘insects.’” [No further information.]
- another human would have grown out of the rump of the previous one. [Regarding potential similarities between humans and tapeworms.]
May 18, 2024
This monumental book pictures the life of one of the best-known biologists of all times. I very much liked the design of the book with many short chapters each highlighting a particular aspect of the life of Carl Von Linné. Broberg does not conceal the less pleasing traits of the famous man, especially Linné's preoccupation with his own reputation. After reading the biography it appeared to me how much Linnaeus was a representative of the old science, hardly came any further than Hippocrates, alchemy and the Middle-Ages. His science was purely descriptive, classifying species but not really examining them and mixing all kind of deeply felt religious arguments in his view of nature. He was promoted to doctor and called himself "medicus pro primo" but never dissected a body or provided any useful suggestion on the causes of disease. One may just smile on his 23-pages doctoral thesis, defended at the University of Harderwijk, The Netherlands, in which he proposed that intermittent fever was due to inhalation of clay. How much more in-depth was his contemporary Boerhaave, for example, as well als Lamarck and Darwin not far after him. This book is to be applauded for providing an honest but still moving picture of one of the most famous Swedes. He classified nature for sure and all biologists keep to his Systema Naturae up to the present day.
July 21, 2024
[There seems to be a bug in Goodreads which does not allow me to change to the Kindle version on which this review is based.]
Although loaded with detail, this work is a very dry read. The text does not flow smoothly and required a tiresome effort to plow through the 800+ pages.
It is a translated work which, as it is not an easy task, I'm sure is responsible for a significant portion of this difficulty. However, Broberg must also be faulted as there is a degree of repetition along with an annoying non-linearity in the unfolding of the subject's life.
Most disappointing is the rather sketchy coverage and lack of insight into Linnaeus' most significant and enduring achievement: his so-called 'tree of life' concept, organizing life into the now familiar Kingdom, Class, Order,...., Species hierarchy.
Although loaded with detail, this work is a very dry read. The text does not flow smoothly and required a tiresome effort to plow through the 800+ pages.
It is a translated work which, as it is not an easy task, I'm sure is responsible for a significant portion of this difficulty. However, Broberg must also be faulted as there is a degree of repetition along with an annoying non-linearity in the unfolding of the subject's life.
Most disappointing is the rather sketchy coverage and lack of insight into Linnaeus' most significant and enduring achievement: his so-called 'tree of life' concept, organizing life into the now familiar Kingdom, Class, Order,...., Species hierarchy.
December 1, 2024
Really interesting biography in an interesting arrangement. Carl's life was considered in three sections (early, middle, late). Each section took a series of "slices" (family, politics, botany, travel, etc). This was a translation. It was a bit tedious along the way (many biographies get tedious..) but there was some seriously hilarious sentences and off hands that were amazing. It was a good read and good history to learn more about Linnaeus.
January 5, 2025
Razend interessant onderwerp. Helaas slecht geschreven met veel herhalingen, droge opsomming van (voor mij) niets zeggende namen. Zeker de eerste helft is vaak warrig. Daarna beter gestructureerd in meer en kleinere afgelijnde onderwerpen. Zonde want het hoofd personage verdient best wel wat aandacht. De vertaler heeft dit jammer genoeg niet kunnen corrigeren.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2024
This scholarly biography provides a full immersion in the life of Linnaeus, revealing the polymath behind his reputation as the father of taxonomy. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2024...
February 20, 2024
Actual rating 3.5/5
December 3, 2025
Een goed boek dat een duidelijk overzicht geeft van het leven van Linnaeus.
September 10, 2021
516 sidor om Linné kanske inte har varit det jag har varit mest taggad på att läsa genom åren. Men det är som med många biografier, har man ett intresse för personen så blir boken intressant. Jag skulle därmed enbart rekommendera denna bok till den som är intresserad av Linné, till den som vill ha en snygg bok hemma eller möjligen till den som vill framställa sig själv som mer förkovrad i ämnet än vad denne egentligen är.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews