Of what use are the great number of petrifactions, of different species, shape and form which are dug up by naturalists? Perhaps the collection of such specimens is sheer vanity and inquisitiveness. I do not presume to say; but we find in our mountains the rarest animals, shells, mussels, and corals embalmed in stone, as it were, living specimens of which are now being sought in vain throughout Europe. These stones alone whisper in the midst of general silence.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the significance of fossils and their role in understanding biodiversity, questioning whether their collection serves a deeper purpose or simply human curiosity.
In this quote, Carl Linnaeus raises a philosophical inquiry about the value of fossil specimens discovered by naturalists. He ponders whether these findings are merely a result of human vanity and curiosity or if they serve a greater purpose in revealing the history of life on Earth. By highlighting the fossilized remains of rare animals and shells, Linnaeus suggests that these stones speak volumes about the past, offering insights into species that once thrived but are now lost to time, thus invoking a sense of wonder and contemplation about nature's history.
In practice
A professor discussing the importance of paleontology in a lecture.
There are as many species as the infinite being created diverse forms in the beginning, which, following the laws of generation, produced many others, but always similar to them: therefore there are as many species as we have different structures before us today.
I demand of you, and of the whole world, that you show me a generic character... by which to distinguish between Man and Ape. I myself most assuredly know of none.
Blessed be the Lord for the beauty of summer and spring, for the air, the water, the verdure, and the song of birds.
A professor can never better distinguish himself in his work than by encouraging a clever pupil, for the true discovers are among them, as comets amongst the stars.
The cyclic universe theory predicts no gravitational waves from the early universe.
The chances that your tombstone will read 'Killed by Asteroid' are about the same as they'd be for 'Killed in Airplane Crash.'
Science is basically an inoculation against charlatans.
Nobody spends any money on smallpox unless they worry about a bio-terrorist recreating it.
The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.
... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact, a precisely opposite situation prevails: biologists have documented a veritable glut of cases for rapid and eminently measurable evolution on timescales of years and decades.
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