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Title
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What is it to be Human? | A Virtual Exhibition Tour
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Description
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In 1735, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus published the first edition of his seminal classification work Systema naturae. In the Kingdom of Animals, Linnaeus included humans, which he divided into four varieties according to geographical origin and skin colour. Linnaeus refined his classification of humans over the next two decades, publishing a much more developed classification in the tenth edition of Systema naturae (1758). This work has had fundamental consequences in the emergence of the concept of race, and the ways in which we understand and conceptualise differences between humans.
The exhibition Homo sapiens: Classifying the Human Animal at the Linnean Society explores Linnaeus’ classification of humans in depth through his books and manuscripts, as well as the legacy this classification had in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. All books and manuscripts displayed are held in the Linnean Society’s collections, many of them from Carl Linnaeus’ own library and archive.
In this lecture, Head of Collections and curator of the exhibition Dr Isabelle Charmantier will give a virtual tour of the exhibition, by concentrating on the key themes and showcasing items of the exhibition.
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Type
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Video
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Date
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2026
Linnean Society of London
