Milepost
On Midsummer Day 2014 I walked in the footsteps of Carl Linnaeus, the 18th-century Swedish botanist who created the modern system of naming organisms. Linnaeus taught at Uppsala University and he had a country residence called Hammarby 15 km outside the city. Linnaeus often guided his students on nature walks to study the flora and fauna of the countryside. I walked from Hammarby to Uppsala along one of Linnaeus’ paths, now called the Danmark Trail. I observed signs of the same human ingenuity, respect for ancestors and connection to the natural world that Linnaeus and his students must have noticed as well.