Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus end of his life in 1778, Carl Linnaeus had become one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe, the first civilian in Sweden to be dubbed a knight of the Order of the Polar Star (1753) and ennobled as Carl von Linné (1761). The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote during Linnaeus' lifetime: "I know no greater man on earth." The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe would later write: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." Swedish author August Strindberg wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality
Linnaeus' flower clock Linnaeus' flower clock Linnaeus' flower clock was a garden plan hypothesized by Carl Linnaeus that would take advantage of several plants that open or close their flowers at particular times of the day to accurately indicate the time. According to Linnaeus’s autobiographical notes, he discovered and developed the floral clock in 1748. It builds on the fact that there are species of plants that open or close their flowers at set times of day. He proposed the concept in his 1751 publication "Philosophia Botanica", calling it the "Horologium Florae" (lit. ""flower clock""). His observations of how plants changed over time