This digital archive of unique material relating to the society's priceless collections of specimens, manuscripts and letters will enable full global access for investigation allowing researchers to rapidly check details of the specimens on-line, including morphological details and written data. The information is of critical importance to correct naming and identification of specimens. The type specimens represent the original concept of new species, exemplified by the specimens and illustrations used when assigning binomial scientific names, the foundation stones of taxonomy. The Herbarium archive contains all 14,300 Linnaean plant specimens. This first phase of the Insects archive contains the Linnaean and Smithian butterflies and moths only. The remaining insects from the collection will be made available during 2009. The Fish archive contains all the 158 Linnaean fish specimens. ... [Information of the supplier]
Carolus Linnaeus (also Carl von Linné, 1707–1778) was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist whose work laid the foundations of modern biological systematics and nomenclature. Long before Linnaeus, classical science was important in the shaping of subsequent science in the West. Transmitted through the cultures of the Mediterranean area, classical science was recovered during the Renaissance and ensuing Scientific Revolution, and undergirded the search for a new botanical system. Drawing on the work of his predecessors and contemporaries, Linnaeus developed a coherent system for describing, classifying and naming organisms. Linnaeus’ students traveled the globe to explore and collect information and specimens. Aspects of the Linnaean system have enabled amateurs and professionals worldwide to identify, name and describe plants for more than two centuries. ... [Information of the supplier]
Charles Valentine Riley pioneered the field of entomology in the United States. The Charles Valentine Riley Collection, part of the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Special Collections, illustrates Riley's vision to enhance the success of agriculture through new scientific knowledge. The collection of papers and significant artifacts, also tells the story of Riley's love of nature, his keen ability to observe relationships in nature, and his devotion to recording his observations through drawing and writing. The collection complements a number of other significant manuscripts and rare books in Special Collections such as the USDA History Collection, manuscripts of Townend Glover and William Saunders, and early publications by Riley and others which provide historians and researchers a broad picture of the field of entomology in the 1800s. ... [Information of the supplier, modified]