Carl Linnaeus comes to Second Life on November 2 « (building the) Second House of Sweden

Carl Linnaeus comes to Second Life on November 2

October 30, 2007 · 1 Comment

In his three-hundredth anniversary year, Carl Linnaeus is branching out — into a virtual world.

On Friday, November 2, at 4-5pm Stockholm time (8-9am Second Life time), the Swedish Institute is inaugurating a new permanent exhibit about the famed Swedish scientist at the Second House of Sweden, Sweden’s virtual embassy in Second Life. To kick off the exhibit in style, we’re planning a range of activities.

About the exhibit:
The exhibit consists of the Linnaeus Room inside the Second House of Sweden, and the Linnaeus Garden, on the archipelago. You can teleport between them.

In the room, watch Herbarium Amoris, a photographic tribute to Linnaeus by Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg. (www.herbariumamoris.se)
Pick up a free PDF book about Linnaeus, available in nine languages (a L$2600 value, USD$10)
Discuss the scientific question of the week posted on the Linnaeus300.com website.
In the garden, enjoy the typical Swedish flowers, each one hyperlinked to more information.

There are special events planned on Friday, November 2, 2007:

Inauguration — Linnaeus garden, 4pm: Director General of the Swedish Institute Olle Wästberg opens the exhibit. Anders Backlund of the Biomedical Centre at Uppsala University — Linnaeus’s alma mater — discusses the relevance of Linnaeus today.

Costume contest 4-5pm: Come dressed in your finest 18th-century costumes to be eligible for prizes. Best costume wins $L20,000, with second and third prizes at $L15,000 and $L10,000, respectively. Winners will be announced at 5pm in the Linnaeus Room.

Film documentary — all weekend: In the auditorium, watch “Expedition Linnaeus”, a full-length documentary on Linnaeus by the noted Swedish photographer Mattias Klum. The movie will be looped continuously for the duration of the weekend, so you can discuss it with others as you watch it. Film viewings are courtesy of Sandrew Metronome. (Swedish, with English subtitles)

The Linnaeus plant-building competition, November 2-9: If you’re a Second Life builder, submit your plant to the garden — the best plants win prizes: First prize L$50,000, with second and third prizes at L$30,000 and L$20,000. Winners will be announced after the contest ends on November 9. (Full contest rules available at the garden.)

See you there!

How to visit the Second House of Sweden:
First-time users of Second Life: Get a free account at http://www.Sweden.se/secondlife. Download and install the viewer (Windows, Mac or Linux), log on and you will be instantly transported to the Swedish Institute sim. There, a short orientation course teaches you the basics of navigating Second Life. After about 15 minutes, you’ll be ready to join the activities at the Second House of Sweden.

Seasoned users of Second Life: Using maps, search for “Swedish Institute” and teleport there. You can also use this SLurl.

Categories: Announcement · Second House of Sweden

1 response so far ↓

Tina // November 3, 2007 at 20:48 pm | Reply

Who did win?

/Tina

(building the) Second House of Sweden