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Carl Linnaeus was born on 13 May 1707 at Råshult, in the parish of Stenbrohult in the south of Sweden. His father, Nils Linnaeus, who was a vicar and an enthusiastic amateur botanist, had created the finest garden in the province of Småland. In this garden, inspired by his father’s enthusiasm, Carl’s love for plants was born. Nils used to decorate Carl’s cot with flowering plants, and when the baby seemed unhappy, he gave him a flower to play with.

When Carl was four years old, his father took his son and some friends on a picnic. By way of entertainment as evening approached, he told them about the different names of the plants they saw and also pointed out some interesting characteristics of each one. Carl was thrilled to learn the plants’ names and often begged his father to tell him more. But, being a child, he once forgot the names. His father Nils then told him that he would never teach him the names of plants again if he kept forgetting them. Afraid that he would not be taught more about the names of his dear plants, Carl really made an effort to learn. His passionate interest in names remained with him for the rest of his life.

Linnaeus had to overcome many obstacles before he could finally embark on his studies in Uppsala, where things began to fall into place. After several years abroad (in Germany, Holland and England) and three years as a physician in Stockholm he was offered a professorship in Uppsala, where he stayed for the rest of his life.

When Carl was old and suffering from the symptoms of what was probably an apoplectic stroke, he still enjoyed his plants, even though he could no longer remember their names. He did not know that he had written books himself, and sometimes forgot his own name. Once when he saw some of the books he had written laid out in front of him, he said that he would have been a happy man if he had been the author of such useful books.

Linnaeus lived a rich life in a time that was different from our own. By taking this course you will get an insight into all of the subjects shown here (and more besides), related to the life and times of Linnaeus . Here and now, however, you can only enter the green flowers.