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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Staffan Müller-Wille (University of Exeter): Annotating the System of Nature: Carl Linnaeus and the Uses of Writing Technologies
Early modern naturalists were faced with what has been termed the 'first bio-information crisis'. A key figure in resolving this crisis was the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1788), who in 1751 introduced "trivial names" which provided a universal and stable index of plant and animal species. This paper will present first results from a study focussing on Linnaeus's day-to-day working routines on the basis of manuscript material held at the Linnean Society (London). What this material shows is that Linnaeus had to manage a conflict between the need to bring observations into a fixed order for purposes of information retrieval, and the need to keep that order flexible for purposes of comparison and integration of new information. One way out of this dilemma was to keep information on particular subjects on separate sheets, which could be complemented and reshuffled. Another was to use preliminary print publications as a template for collecting additions and amendments. It was only very late in his career, however, namely in the mid 1760s, that Linnaeus came up with what in hindsight seems to be the perfect solution to the dilemma: index cards. The long and tortuous route that led Linnaeus towards this innovation reveals a number of interesting issues relating to the history of scientific publication and authorship.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
04/21/2010 15:00 - 04/21/2010 16:30
Event venue:
Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Boltzmannstr. 22
14195 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Art / design, Cultural sciences, History / archaeology, Social studies
Types of events:
Entry:
12/30/2009
Sender/author:
Dr. Hansjakob Ziemer
Department:
Kooperationen und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event29802
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