Dear All,

With the necessarily comprehensive Latin knowledge you can read in origin the opinion of Linnaeus on this subject.

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10277#page/7/mode/1up

A small point not an answer to this question per se. Binomial means "two numbers" - think of binomial expansion in mathematics. What you mean is "bi-nominal" or "two names" nomenclature. 

Binominal, of course. Typo corrected.

I read the Chapter with great interest. I think the case that the author makes is well-argued and appears unassailable to me. Perhaps the only surprise is that it has not been pointed out before (perhaps it has?). It is usual that, on careful examination, scientific advances commonly attributed to one man actually have a more complex history: the Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection for instance. 

Dear All,

With the necessarily comprehensive Latin knowledge you can read in origin the opinion of Linnaeus on this subject.

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10277#page/7/mode/1up

binomial is used in a mathematics but the term can also be used to indicate a biological species name consisting of two terms! Nomen is name in latin and bi (probably from bis) means twice. So BINOMIAL: having two names 

The argument is a bit strange, as today in the history of biology and the history of botany and Linneaus more specifically, nobody actually claims that Linneaus came up with the binominal nomenclature. And then there is the questions of what the significance of the establishment of such a nomenclature would be, if it is not attached to more profound ideas about taxonomy and systematics.

I would argue, that in the history of science, Linneaus is mostly credited for the impact his taxonomy and systematics had conceptually and practically, even though, as has been shown, it took considerable time for his approach to be generally accepted. The fact that especially in biology and systematics, Linneaus is, as the author of the paper shows, falsly remembered for coming up with the binominal nomenclature is due to the incompatibility of his views on taxonomy and systematics with later ones, especially after Darwin. So if biologists or botanists wanted to make Linneaus into one of their historical heros, they needed to get around this problem. Thus, the binominal nomenclature served as a proxy for Linneaus' work, that is quite obvious and not in conflict with more recent concepts in the field. That it is historically wrong is then only of minor concern.

What is indeed interesting is the history of binominal nomenclature before and in the times of Linneaus.

Binomial, or binary, nomenclature are the standard denominations. Nobody would ever say "binominal" nomenclature.

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Apparently binomial and binominal are used interchangeably and we can find both.

Hi,

I agree with Christian that what is indeed interesting is the history of binominal nomenclature before and in the times of Linnaeus.

In 1604 (thus, more than a 150 years before the fundamental work by Linnaeus) a monograph by Caspar Schwenckweld (a medicine doctor from Hirschberg = Jelenia Góra, Sudetes Mts., Poland) entitled “Theriotropheum Silesiae” was published.

This monograph included descriptions of many animal species (vertebrate and invertebrate) with binominal species names. Exactly the same names were used many times subsequently by Linnaeus, who probably has seen the Schwenckfeld’s monograph in Berlin Musem (or elsewhere?).

As a proof, see the attached file including the cover page of the monograph, and the pages presenting descriptions of Cimices lectularii (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) [at present Cimex lectularius], and Cossus albus (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) [at present Cossus cossus L.] – I think that Linnaeus was at least so fair not to repeat those name and proposed his own names].

And what do you think? Are there any other known examples of a pre-Linnean species binominal nomenclature?

My best to all,

Jerzy