WITH AND BEYOND TAXONOMY. Linnaeus on Generation, Economy of Nature, and the Human Condition

The historiography of the life sciences has appreciated the work of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) mainly for his contributions to the discipline of systematics. His introduction of binomial nomenclature and the so-called Linnaean hierarchy are largely seen as foundational for the practice of botany and zoology but have overwhelmingly problematized as a legacy of a static, typological worldview that abstracts living beings from their natural and cultural contexts.

This talk provides an overview of the extensive, but lesser-known work that Linnaeus produced alongside his systematic writings. It touches on themes that we would classify as belonging to ecology, reproductive biology and anthropology today, and demonstrates that his thinking was much more relational and dynamic than we usually take for granted.

You may also like the following events from Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance - CSMBR:

• Next month, 30th September, 03:00 pm, MEDICAL VIEWS ON SEXUAL PLEASURE IN THE RENAISSANCE. Interpreting Hippocrates' "On Generation" in Pisa, Italy
• This October, 7th October, 09:00 pm, IN IBN AL-NAFIS' SHADOW. Transformations in Medical Theory in Islamic Societies (1200-1500) in Pisa, Italy
• This October, 21st October, 10:00 am, MEDICAL EDUCATION IN EUROPE (1350-1750): Texts, Institutions, Practices in Pisa