Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 12: Little Journeys to the Homes of Great ScientistsHubbard, Elbert
Science
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 12: Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Scientists
Hubbard, Elbert
Scientists -- Biography
Linnaeus was a businessman as well as a naturalist. It would require a
book to tell of the glorious half-gypsy life of these eight young men,
moving slowly through woods, across plains, over mountains and meadows,
studying soil, rocks, birds, trees and flowers, collecting and making
records.
Camping at night by flowing streams, awakening with the dawn and cooking
breakfast by the campfire in a silence that took up their shouts of
laughter in surprise, and echoed them back from the neighboring hills!
At last the journey was ended. Linnaeus had proved his ability to
teach--his animation, good-cheer and friendly qualities brought his
pupils very close to him. Reuterholm insisted that he should attach
himself to the rising little college at Fahlun. There he met Doctor
Moraeus, a man of much worth in a scientific way. At his house Linnaeus
made his home. There was a daughter in the household, Sara Elizabeth,
tall, slender, appreciative and studious. One of the Reuterholms had
courted her, but in vain.
There were the usual results, and when Carolus and Sara Elizabeth came
to Doctor Moraeus hand in hand for his blessing, he granted it as good
men always do. Then the Doctor gave Linnaeus some good advice--go to
Holland or somewhere and get a doctor's degree. The enemies at Upsala
called Linnaeus "the gypsy scientist." Silence them--Linnaeus was now a
great man, and the world would yet acknowledge it. Sara Elizabeth agreed
in all of the propositions.
Love, they say, is blind, but sometimes love is a regular telescope.
This time love saw things that the learned men of Upsala failed to
discover--their diagnosis was wrong. Linnaeus had prepared a thesis on
intermittent fever, and he was assured that if he presented this thesis
at the medical school at Harderwijk, Holland, with letters from Baron
Reuterholm and Doctor Moraeus, it would secure him the much desired M.D.
A few months, at most, would suffice. He could then return to Fahlun and
take his place as a practising physician and a professor in the college,
marry the lady of his choice and live happy ever afterward.
So he started away southward. In due time, he arrived at Harderwijk and
read his thesis to the faculty. Instead of the callow youth, such as
they usually dealt with, they found a practised speaker who defended his
points with grace and confidence. The degree was at once voted, and a
"cum laude" thrown in for good measure. Linnaeus was asked to remain
there and give a course of lectures on natural history. This he did.
Before going home he thought he would take a little look in on Leyden,
at that time the bookmaking and literary center of the world. At Leyden
he met Gronovius, the naturalist, who asked him to remain and give
lectures at the University. He did so, and incidentally showed
Gronovius the manuscript of his book on the new system of botanic
classification.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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