text: Carl Linnaeus: He was the founder of the Modern Botany and the most lauded botanist of all time. He was born in Sweden in 1707. He traveled throughout Europe and America, collected thousands of plants and described them in great details.          He wrote numerous botanical works. Amongst these, Species Plantarum (Don’t confuse with Planetarium that deals with stars and planets.) published in 1753.\nHe was first to introduce Binary Nomenclature or the binomial nomenclature for all the living things. In this method, each of the living beings is known by a single scientific name through out the world to avoid any confusion in communication. The name itself consists of two parts. First is the generic name and the second is the specific name, hence the name binomial nomenclature. This method is in operational practice even today. (i.e. more than two centuries!). All human beings in the world are Homo sapiens (man the clever one). These names are written in italics, the generic name begins with a capital letter and the specific one with a small letter.\n     The other contribution of this great botanist is regarding the classification of living plants. He introduced Sexual System of plant classification. The basic principle of the system is as follows:-\nIn order to adapt themselves to the changed environment, plants may change their outward form or morphology, but; when it comes to reproduction, they are more conservative or orthodox and do not change the process of reproduction so easily.\n     If, therefore, the system of classification is based on their salient modes of reproduction then it will have a very sound base.\n     This reasoning is so accurate that all the systems of plant classification that are in vogue in different parts of the world are based on this principle only.\n      Thus, Carl Linnaeus will eternally be remembered in the scientific world for his Binomial Nomenclature and Sexual System of Plant Classification.\n      The Linnaean Society in London was founded in 1788 to honour him.