How 18th-century scientists taught the next generation through hands-on collections
A new study reveals how Linnaeus and his circle used physical collections—herbaria and specimens—as teaching tools to train young naturalists in early modern Sweden. The research shows knowledge transfer relied heavily on informal, private education alongside formal institutions, challenging assumptions about how expertise was built and transmitted in pre-industrial Europe.
Originaltitel: Lessons in Collections and on Collecting: The Case of Carl Bäck (1761-1776)
<p>Carl Bäck was the son of Carolus Linnaeus’s best friend Abraham Bäck. Bäck senior and Linnaeus bonded over natural history; between them they owned the two biggest herbariums in Sweden. Unsurprisingly, they wanted to communicate their passion to the next generation. The first aim of this article is to explore how collections were used to teach natural history, drawing on the case of Carl Bäck. As we shall see, young Bäck learned both the behaviours and more hands-on technologies from Linnaean naturalists. The second aim is to situate Bäck’s education within a history of teaching natural history in early-modern Sweden, showing the extent to which we need to consider both institutional and informal and private education in order to understand how this knowledge was reproduced, and the central role Linnaeus and his many students played in this process.</p>