Final answer:
Carolus Linnaeus, known as the 'father of taxonomy,' developed the Linnaean classification system in the 1700s, which uses a hierarchical structure to classify organisms and is still foundational to modern taxonomy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The work of Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist effective during the 1700s, is crucial in the realm of biology due to his foundational contributions to the classification of living organisms. Linnaeus is known as the 'father of taxonomy' for good reason. He devised the modern system of naming organisms, popularly known as binomial nomenclature, which assigned each species a two-part Latin name comprising its genus and species. His creation, the Linnaean classification system, organized living things based on their physical and morphological traits, such as leaf shapes and limb numbers. This system provided a clear and systematic method to group, identify, and name organisms, which was incorporated in his significant work, Systema Naturae.
He introduced binomial nomenclature, giving each organism a two-word Latin name. Despite revisions over time, his system provided a universal method to catalog the natural world.