An opinionated, lively writer, Broberg shares many characteristics with his subject ... Dispensing with the prevalent image of Linnaeus as nature’s dullest bookkeeper, Broberg paints a moving portrait of a profoundly vulnerable human being with deep affection for the pets he owned.
[Broberg] attempts to provide the fullest possible account of his life yet fails to grapple with the fundamental question it raises: if categorization is crucial to making sense of the world, how should we classify Carl Linnaeus? ... Not, unfortunately, a pleasure to read ... The main problem with The Man Who Organized Nature, though, is not all the things in it we don’t need to know but all the things we need to know that aren’t in it.
Writing for a general audience, the author mostly avoids turgid academic prose, but those who are less scientifically inclined may struggle with some passages ... Everything you ever wanted to know about Linnaeus and more.
