From the time language originated, Man starter naming animals. His scientific temper prompted him to order and categorize all living and non-living things for easier understanding. Man observed, named and compared animals and plants.
Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, was the first known man to introduce the classification of animals. He classified species according to various characteristics, including whether they gave birth or laid eggs, or whether they were warm or cold-blooded.
The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote Naturalis Historia, a large work in which many plants were described. Naturalis Historia is also considered the first encyclopedia.
Over the years, animal classification became more scientific. The 16th century Italian philosopher Andrea Cesalpino classified plants according to their fruits and seeds.
The English naturalist John Ray published works on botany and zoology in the 17th century. He classified species according to the similarities that he observed, and was the first person to offer a scientific definition of the word species.
The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus of 18th century is known as the father of modern taxonomy. He popularized the binomial naming system, and introduced the use of kingdoms, classes, orders, genera and species. The Linnaean system is still in use today.
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