Karol Linneusz (1707–1778) w trzechsetną rocznicę narodzin

Besides Aristotle and Charles Darwin, Carolus Linnaeus is a scientist who played the greatest role in the history of biology. The tercentenary of his birth in 2007 was observed in many countries, among others in Poland. For example in the Gdańsk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences the exhibition “In remembrance of Carl von Linné” was arranged in October 2007. In Cracow – in the meeting of the Commission on the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (June 20, 2007) – some facts on the Linnaeus’ life and scientific activity in botany and in zoology were presented by the authors of this paper. It was underlined that the most important Linnaeus’ achievement was the introduction of binominal nomenclature for plants (1753) and animals (1758), as well as his sexual system of plants (first version in 1735), which did not survived in science, but contributed to the great progress in botanical exploration of the world.