Hi there!

NATURE HAS MANY FACES – some of them we understand and know, others we know very little about – if you only see it from the side of humanity! In just a few months, a "primitive" parasitical virus which cannot even be considered an organism has forced country after country in all parts of the world to “raise the quarantine flag”.

Daily life comes to a halt and nothing is the same for people of different generations, professions and cultures. All this for a virus; an infectious agent of small size and simple composition that can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants, or bacteria. The name is from a Latin word meaning "slimy liquid" or "poison." [Source: Virus biology | Encyclopædia Britannica].

It is in a way an evil time for humanity who for a while experience a situation that anyone can be affected by, something that they cannot see or really protect themselves against! Viruses of many different varieties have followed us through the whole of human history, often brutally and over long periods of time. Hopefully, the efforts that are now being made globally to curb the rapid spread of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will soon be able to show results to save more lives and recreate a renewed normal everyday life in the world!

Both mankind and viruses are part of Nature! The study of Nature is important for the understanding of how this planet in its entirety works – in the past, present and future alike – ironically, science knows a lot, but at the same time also very little! Maybe this pandemic can get the good of humanity and societies will gain a greater respect for Nature and begin to realise that everything in numerous ways belong together in a complicated system, which has evolved over billions of years – on the planet we all share and often call our Mother Earth!

IN THE IK FOUNDATION, we follow the pandemic developments closely to protect our staff and linked networks. IK's internal infrastructure has long since been divided into small units in many countries, so we are used to working in a secure and efficient digital global world. Planned fieldwork in Russia, Kazakhstan, US, Canada and Spitsbergen has been halted in order to be able to be implemented once the situation has stabilised. The Enterprise with The Field Station | Naturae Observatio with maintenance etc has also been stopped for the moment and will be activated as soon as the rules allow. In order to make effective use of this time of "isolation", projects within IK will focus on initiated and new publicising projects such as new digital initiatives, multimedia and publications.

BOOKSHOP IS OPEN

Two books may be of historical interest in the eternal quest for medical science to find cures and to understand both Nature and what the human body can be exposed to. The naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus's hard-to-reach but interesting CLAVIS MEDICINAE DUPLEX - The Two Keys of Medicine (first published 1766) offers the reader a journey into the 18th century medical world of thoughts, perhaps it may be described as a summation of the natural-history tradition of medicine, with roots extending deep into history.

In the book DOCTOR CARL LINNAEUS PHYSICIAN we follow both the medical history and Carl Linnaeus himself when he returned to Sweden in 1738 to resume his official career as a practicing physician, and in 1741 was appointed Professor of Practical Medicine.

Both books are included in the Mundus Linnæi Series.

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Finally, our thoughts go out to all those whose health is impacted here in Europe and around the world.