XVI International Botanical Congess

The time around 1800 is frequently considered as one of the most decisive turning points in the history of the life sciences: Biology as a study of life emerged, leaving behind a study of living things structured by Linnean taxonomical practice. While this process has predominantly been discussed as one of mere substitution, I will try to discuss it as a process of transformation, by analyzing 1) how the botanical research practices of Linnaean botanists in the second half of the 18th century (epitomized in J. E. Smith's programmatic paper of 1791) shaped the conditions for the said turning point, and 2) how these research practices became integral parts of two new fields of botanical study at the beginning of the 19th century: comparative anatomy and biogeography (epitomized in A.-P. de Candollea's Théorie Élémentaire de la Botanique 1813).