Swede ranked as most influential on Wikipedia
TT/The Local/og - [email protected]
Published: 12 Jun, 2014 CET.
Updated: Thu 12 Jun 2014 11:47 CET
A new study from a French university has found that a Swede is the most influential person on the internet - bigger than Shakespeare, Einstein, and even Jesus who finished second.
After an extensive study, Young-Ho Eom and his colleagues at the University of Toulouse have found the most influential people on the internet. And the number one is a Swede - botanist Carl von Linné. Carl von Linné, also known as Carl Linnaeus, was a Swedish scientist in the 18th century. His defining contribution to the world was being the brains behind binomial nomenclature - the formal system of naming all living things (including himself) in Latin. Essentially, Linnaeus gave the Latin name to the world's animals, plants, and minerals, and he is credited with assigning names to over 8,000 plans and more than 4,000 animals. 
Linnaeus himself. Photo: WikiCommons Take a look at the Wikipedia page for the elk (also known as a moose outside of Europe). The name Linnaeus appears on the right hand bar beside the Latin name Alces alces. All this means, the French study found, that his name pops up on Wikipedia more often than anyone else's in the world, living or dead. The study was based on a Google PageRank algorithm that took into account the Wikipedia pages of 24 languages. The top ten: Linnaeus Jesus Aristotle Napoleon Hitler Caesar Shakespeare Einstein Queen Elizabeth II Linnaeus, who was born in Småland in 1707, spent most of his adult life in Uppsala both as a student and professor at the Uppsala University. He died in 1778.
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After an extensive study, Young-Ho Eom and his colleagues at the University of Toulouse have found the most influential people on the internet.
And the number one is a Swede - botanist Carl von Linné.
Carl von Linné, also known as Carl Linnaeus, was a Swedish scientist in the 18th century. His defining contribution to the world was being the brains behind binomial nomenclature - the formal system of naming all living things (including himself) in Latin.
Essentially, Linnaeus gave the Latin name to the world's animals, plants, and minerals, and he is credited with assigning names to over 8,000 plans and more than 4,000 animals.
Linnaeus himself. Photo: WikiCommons
Take a look at the Wikipedia page for the elk (also known as a moose outside of Europe). The name Linnaeus appears on the right hand bar beside the Latin name Alces alces.
All this means, the French study found, that his name pops up on Wikipedia more often than anyone else's in the world, living or dead.
The study was based on a Google PageRank algorithm that took into account the Wikipedia pages of 24 languages.
The top ten:
Linnaeus
Jesus
Aristotle
Napoleon
Hitler
Caesar
Shakespeare
Einstein
Queen Elizabeth II
Linnaeus, who was born in Småland in 1707, spent most of his adult life in Uppsala both as a student and professor at the Uppsala University. He died in 1778.
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