Here's why:

* Historical Tradition: Latin was the language of science and scholarship during the time when the binomial system was developed (18th century).

* Universality: Latin is a dead language, meaning it's no longer spoken. This ensures that the scientific names are stable and not subject to changes in everyday language.

* Clarity: Latin is concise and precise, making it suitable for the strict, unambiguous nature of scientific names.

For example, the scientific name for humans is *Homo sapiens*. *Homo* is the genus, and *sapiens* is the species.