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Hello, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Lousseau once wrote,

tell him I know no greater man on earth.

He's referring to the pioneering Swedish botanist Carl Leneus,

1707 to 1778.

The son of a person, Leneus grew up in an impoverished part of Sweden

but managed again in place at university.

He went on to transform biology by making two major innovations.

He devised a simpler method of naming species

and he developed a new system for classifying plants and animals

a system that became known as the Lenean hierarchy.

He was also one of the first people to grow a banana in Europe.

With me to discuss the work of Leneus are Steve Jones,

senior research fellow in genetics at University College London.

Seller Sandford, professor of modern European philosophy at Kingston University, London.

And Stafford Muleveela, University lecturer in history of life,

human and earth sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Stafford Mulevelle, will you tell us more about Ness earlier upbringing and education?

...