Scientific Classification in BiologyClassification in biology is the identification, naming, and grouping of organisms into a formal system. The vast number of living forms are neatly named and organized so that biologists around the world can be sure they know exactly the organism that is being examined and discussed. Groups of organisms must be defined by selecting for important characteristics, or shared traits, that make members of each group similar to each other and different from members of other groups. Modern classification schemes also attempt to place groups into categories that will reflect an understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying the similarities and differences between organisms. These categories form a sort of pyramid, or hierarchy, in which the different levels should represent the different degrees of evolutionary relationship. The hierarchy extends from several million species, each composed of closely related individual organisms, down to a few kingdoms, each containing large assemblages of organisms, many of which are only distantly related. Carolus Linnaeus is probably the most dominant figure in systematic classification. Born in 1707, he had an extremely orderly mind. People sent him plants from all over the world and he figured out a way to connect them. At the age of thirty-two he was the author of fourteen botanical works. His two most famous were Genera Plantarum, which developed an artificial sexual system, and Species Plantarum, a famous work in which he named and classified every plant known to him, and for the first time gave each plant a binomial. This binomial system was a major improvement over the old description......structurally and structurally too dissimilar to the species categorized above to fit that taxonomic scheme. Although this system is complex and sometimes intricate, its universality makes it a necessity. Without the system currently in use the world would be years and years behind in the task of naming all living organisms on earth. This system is great, but it's always possible that some new discovery could cause the system to evolve to become more inclusive. This system is by no means set in stone, and Linnaeus would probably be amazed to see the way it has evolved from his original system. Bibliography: Berkeley University. www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html/Galbraith, Don. Understanding biology. John Wiley and Sons. Toronto.1989,Microsoft. Encarta Encyclopedia 97. Microsoft Corporation. 1997