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Carl von Linné

Linnaeus' Philosophia Botanica

by Carl Linnaeus (Author), Stephen Freer (Author)

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Philosophia Botanica (The Science of Botany), by Carl Linnaeus, was originally published in Latin in Stockholm and Amsterdam in 1751. It is a greatly expanded revision of his Fundamenta Botanica (Foundations of Botany) of 1736, summarizing his work on the classification and taxonomy of plants while adding substantial new material. The book represents a critical stage in the evolution of binomial nomenclature, with a single word to describe the genus and another for the species. Special importance is attached to accurate description of the parts of plants, and to the correct use of technical terms. There are also explanations of the effects of soil and climatic conditions on plant growth. The book includes 9 original engravings, with 167 figures showing the shapes of leaves and other parts of the plant, and 6 short memoranda describing Linnaeus' botanical excursions, detailing his ideas for garden and herbarium construction, and outlining what is required of a botanist and his pupils. There are also indexes of technical terms, genera and subjects. The first full English translation of this classic work since 1775, this beautiful book will be highly attractive to botanists and all those interested in the history of science.

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ISBN-10

0198569343
ISBN-13

978-0198569343
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

August 11, 2005
Language

English
Dimensions

9.69 x 7.44 x 0.87 inches
Print length

428 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Fortunatly, Stephen Freer, a classical scholar, has provided painstaking, exact and very lucid English translation....so that the Philosophia Botnaic, with the addition of an excellent introduction by Paul Allen Cox, is now accessible and meaningful to those with no more then a modest grasp of systematic botany."-- Curtis's Botanical Journal

"This book is beautifully produced and well-illustrated. Stephen Freer is to be congratulated on his translation wich easily brings 18th century Latin to a modern relationship."--Edinburgh Journal of Botany

"The translator's meticulous attention to detail and the publisher's lavish production cannot be praised too highly. A valuable resource for taxonomists and of great interest to botanists in general and historians of science."--The Naturalist

"As translator, Freer is in a sense invisible in this work, and yet his hand is on every page, presenting Linnaeus' ideas and teachings to a new and wider audience... straightforward and very readable. This translation is an important contribution to science and its history..."-- Charlotte Tancin, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

"We must be grateful to Stephen Freer and Oxford University Press for bringing us this excellent translation. I urge yo not only to buy it but also to read it, because you will enjoy it."--Alex S. George, Systematic Biology

"Reading this excellent translation of the Philosophia Botanica, ...historians, botanists and gardeners are among those who will find it fascinating"--Jim Endersby, The Times Literary Supplement

"Freer's translation of Linnaeus's Philosophia Botanica makes a classic work of botany accessible to English language readers. ...will have a lasting impact on historical studies aimed at understanding how Linnaeus worked and how some of his ideas were formulated."--Choice

"All in all this is a delightful and informative translation of a botanical classic... Anyone interested in the history of botany and in teaching botany will enjoy and benefit from reading this book."--Plant Science Bulletin, Fall 2005, Vol.51, No.3

"Reading this excellent translation . . . reviewers of the hard copy edition have already heaped praise on Stephen Freer's skilful and meticulous translation. . . I can only add gratitude for providing easy access to one of Linnaeus's most important texts."-- Dr Pieter Baas, The Linnean Society Journal, October 2006

"All in all this is a delightful and informative translation of a botanical classic...Anyone interested in the history of botany and in teaching botany will enjoy and benefit from reading this book."--Marshall D. Sundberg, Plant Science Bulletin

Philosophia Botanica is certainly a must on the shelves of anyone interested in the history and philosophy of the life sciences."-- Dr. Staffan Mueller-Wille, Journal of the History of Biology

"What a treat to have the whole of this work available in English for the first time. It is hard to over-emphasise its importance."--Dr Crinan Alexander, The Garden

". . . In his translation, Freer remains faithful to the author while choosing language that will convey meaning to modern readers. . ." Dr Melinda Hayes,Quarterly Review of Biology

"For his skilful translation Stephen Freer deserves our unstinted admiration and gratitude."-- Philip Oswald, Archives of Natural History

"Stephen Freer is to be heartily congratulated for providing such a stylish and, for the first time, complete English translation of this most important volume."-- Dr Gren Lucas, Plant Talk

Book Description

A classic in the history of science and botany

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (August 11, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 428 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198569343
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198569343
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.69 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.69 x 7.44 x 0.87 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,919,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #483 in Botany (Books)
- #2,612 in Biology (Books)

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Worth reading for anyone interested in science or in how to organize large amounts of data into a rational system.

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2016

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Carl Linné was a brilliant scientist and deserves more readers. (In fact, I wish I had enough time to become a botanist, after reading this book.) Not much of his work is available in English, but this Stephen Freer translation is very complete and a great introduction to his way of thinking. It's a bit hard to grasp without going back and forth in it a bit--did not really see its full logic until the end. My favorite parts were the Greek names, which I could mostly puzzle out, and trying to figure out how his system relates to my gardening knowledge (it doesn't--gardeners are focused on varieties, which botanists sniff at since varieties revert to their wild forms, the true species). Another enjoyable digression, his definitions of the now-obscure but still handy French measurements (a line, a nail, a thumb, a palm, a span, a fathom...man being the measure of all things and all). This book gave me a better understanding of Linné's classes, orders, and the natural genera, how they relate to each other, and what botany is exactly (the categorization of plants by their sex characteristics, the flower/fruit body, rather than non-essentials like color or size which vary enormously within species). It also gave me another ready-to-hand example of Enlightenment-era inductive organization of a huge set of facts, and the value of making and recording detailed observations in organizing those facts in a precise, reliable system.

4 people found this helpful

A joy for history & science

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2013

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Rare book, excellent edition. Precious and beautiful. The best english book on Linnaeus i ever read. Very useful. Very good price.

4 people found this helpful

Clandestine Library For Further Reading

Carl Linnaeus' Summarizing Work on Botanical Taxonomy

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2013

Carl Linnaeus (1707 - 1778) is best known for his work on taxonomy of Animals, but he is also did massive work in the taxonomy of Botany and Minerals too. He used to say to himself "God creates, but Linnaeus names." and he saw himself as a person on a mission to establish the order of all creation from animals to plants to minerals. He was searching for a "Natural Method" whereby all things could be systematically named and classified. As he notes in this book, "If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost also." His views of taxonomy (or arrangements) have impacted how we classify species of animals, plants, (and minerals?) to this day. He had to sort out through much of the systems of classifications in his day which were quite cluttered and not as simple or systematic as what he was able to establish. His work impacted many fields such as the biological sciences by providing a system where many could adequately research the diversity of life (even though he was a creationist), paleontology, anthropology, and other fields that use taxonomy to establish an systematic order of entities that constitute Nature.

The book at hand, "Philosophia Botanica", is a summarizing work on Botany and classification of plants. The introduction is very enthusiastic and informative on all his botanical works and refers to "Philosophia Botanica" as being like a set of lectures. One can think of it that way. The introduction also sheds light on his cultural heritage. He is one of the most beloved scientists in his native Sweden and was a very good lecturer. Actually, he is best known there for his work as a teacher, not as a botanist or taxonomist of animals. For sure there is much to learn from this book such as the history of botany and the history of taxonomy in general since he does discuss issues that overlap with issues in animal taxonomy. This book would be good for those who are interested in the history of botany or the history of science in general.

Here are the chapters and some of the contents discussed therein (not exhaustive):

I. The Library

Discusses essentially the history of botany, notes ancient to contemporary botanists, notes famous gardens (in Universities, public, private), notes cultures that have contributed to botanical research, botanical commentators by countries/regions, illustrators of botanicals, notes different contributors to botany (Travelers, Physiologists, Systematists [Orthodox, Heterodox, Universal], Gardeners, etc), discusses many ways people have tried to classify botanicals (by roots, by chemical effects, by language, etc)

II. Systems

Shows the different classification systems used by many botanists, ends with his own classification system "Natural Method" (which is meant to be all that is needed in botany); notes that his system will be made more perfect as more knowledge accumulates and says "for nature does not make leaps" (49)

III. Plants

Discusses the Vegetables which are 7 families (funguses, algae, mosses, ferns, grasses, palms, and plants); the three parts of vegetables are the root, the herb, and the fruit-body; describes many leaf types and textures

IV. The Fruit-Body

7 parts of the fruit-body which are dedicated to reproduction (Calyx, Corolla, Stamen, Pistil, Pericarp, Seed, Receptacle) are discussed; fruit-bodies are classified as flowers and fruits and Linnaeus provides definitions of flowers by other authorities; the essences of flowers, fruit, fruit-bodies, vegetables discussed; extensively discusses how a fruit-body's structure needs to be described as 1 of 3 kinds (most natural, differing, peculiar) with 4 measurements (number, shape, proportion, position)

V. Sex

"...in the beginning of things, a single sexual pair of every species of living being was created."(99); how plants have spread across the globe; points about how vegetables are also living creatures as they have functional similarities to animals; offspring of plants come from both an "egg" and "sperm" since hybrid species exist; flowering comes before fruits emerge; the Anthers are the male genitals of plants and Pollen is the sperm; Stigmas are the female genitals; sexual systems in plants described; different sexual configurations: Male, Female, Hermaphrodites, Androgynous, Polygamous

VI. Characters

The Foundation of Botany is: "Arrangement" (divisions and connection of the vegetables i.e. Class, Order, Genera, etc) and "Nomenclature"; discusses "System" (Classes, Orders, Genera, Species, Varieties); "We reckon the number of species as the number of different forms that were created in the beginning." and "The number of species is the number of different forms produced by the Infinite Being from the beginning; and these forms have produced more forms, according to the laws laid down, but always ones that are similar to themselves. Therefore the number of species is the number of different forms or structures that occur today." and "That new species can come to exist in vegetables is disproved by continued generation, propagation, daily observations, and the cotyledons." (113); "A variety is a plant that is changed by an accidental cause: climate, soil, heat, winds, etc, and likewise it is restored by change in soil." and "Kinds of variety are size, fullness, curling, color, savor, and smell." (114); "Species and genera are always the work of Nature; variety is quite often the work of Cultivation; class and order are the work of Nature and Art." (115); extensive review of "Habits" (conformities of vegetables); *fruit-bodies should always be used to infer primary arrangements of classifications; rules for preventing misclassifications because of ambiguity, confusion, disagreement; "Character" exists in 3 forms (the Factitious, the Essential, the Natural); the Natural character is the most important for botanists as it is an ideal for classification of existing or undiscovered genera; emphasis on using well defined technical terminology to preserve the general classifications of botanicals just like other sciences have (mathematics, anatomy, chemistry); Classes and Orders that are too long or numerous cause great difficulties; reviews many contemporary classification by other botanists and his too

VII. Names

"Nomenclature" is the 2nd foundation of botany and must be done on names after the "Arrangements" have been done; "If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost also." (169); only genuine botanists should assign names to plants - he lists absurd names for plants that have been made before; names of a Class or Order should never be included in the name of a plant; general rules and linguistical protocols for generating names of plants; rules for avoiding lack of clarity and redundancy with other in use classifications (animals, minerals) or classifications from other fields (anatomists, pathologists, etc); extensively lists acceptable Latin and Greek names and unacceptable names; tempering or replacing agreed upon names after they are established can do much damage to Botany so it is better to invest time on getting correct generic names early on; shorter names are better since long names make things more confusing

VIII. Definitions

"A plant is completely named, if it is provided with a generic name and a specific name." (219); generally provides rules on making specific names; "Definitions that pass off varieties as species are erroneous." (221); "Size does not separate species." (223); features that draw comparisons between the species of a different genus are deceptive and the same applies to comparisons of species of the same genus (224-225); name of discoverer should not be applied to a definition; native location does not indicate separate species (264); rules on what belongs and what does not belong in definitions; other things that do not establish different species; leaves show most natural definitions; parts of the fruit-bodies often provide the best definitions; every definition must be taken from number, shape, relative size, and various parts of a plant; a specific name is either "synoptic" or "essential"; specific names must be in Latin (for precision) and generic names can be foreign (more broad); specific names should make use of positive terms (what it is), not negative terms (what it is not)

IX. Varieties

Varietal names may be added to the generic and specific names; names of genera (capital letters), species (ordinary letters), and varieties (italics) must be written in letters of different sizes respectively; other rules on naming

X. Synonyms

Like chapter title says

XI. Sketches

Rules on what information to include on sketches

XII. Potencies

Chemical and sensory considerations

Plates (Drawings)

Leaves, Compound Leaves, Leaves in their Circumstances, Stems, Supports, Roots, Parts of the Flower, Parts of the Fruit-Body, Peduncle, Foliage

For those who are more interested in his most notable work "Systema Naturae" (which has animal, plant, and mineral taxonomies) you can look up one of the few English translations available "A general system of nature, through the three grand kingdoms of animals, vegetables, and minerals, systematically divided into their several classes, orders, genera, species, and varieties, with their habitations, manners, economy, structure and peculiarities" (1806) in 7 Volumes under the name Sir Charles Linne with contributions from William Turton. It was quite hard for me to find it, so I am giving out the information needed to find this book. Hopefully its easier for others to procure.

8 people found this helpful

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The Contemplative Man

A Scholarly Masterpiece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2017

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This translation of Linnaeus' Philosophia Botanica (The Science of Botany) by Stephen Freer who died in 2017 is a masterpiece.
Despite the welter of new scientific books coming on to the scene, and then disappearing without trace, there are very few that are truly classic masterworks that will pass the test of time. This is one of those few.
Coming to the subject of biological classification as little more than an amateur entomologist (perhaps enthusiastic ‘bug hunter’ would be a more apt description) as spin-off from my passion for fly fishing; I found this book, although quite technical, absolutely fascinating. It provides a very enlightening insight into the complexity, yet systematic order, of God’s creation. The depth of the information compiled by Linnaeus is truly breath-taking.
I will not comment on Linnaeus’ original work because it is still, over 250 years later, the definitive reference work on the subject. I will leave that to those who are more scholarly than me. To have it available in the English language in this form is long overdue but that has now been remedied here. It took Stephen Freer 7 years to complete the task which is not surprising considering the vastness of the subject.
The book is well laid out and produced and, although not cheap, is well worth the price. It is not the sort of book that in a few years’ time you will want to discard.
It is highly recommended for experts and students alike, and just about anybody with an interest in the classification of the natural world, not just biology.

Patricia Nuñez Salmeron

Una decepción

Reviewed in Spain on November 6, 2015

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Dado el precio altísimo que tiene, me parece un timo. Puede que el texto sea bueno, aún no lo he leido, pero apenas hay ilustraciones lo cual dificulta muchísimo la localización de las plantas y la edición no puede ser más barata, papel malo y fino, todo en blanco y negro, encuadernación escolar...

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