ChrysalisChrysalis
Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis
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Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, 1st ed, Available .Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, 1st ed, Available . Offered in 0 more formatsTraces the life and work of the pioneering seventeenth-century woman naturalist who defied period conventions throughout her career, discussing the scientific and political backdrop of her life, her unprecedented solo expedition to study insect metamorphosis in the New World, and her role in the establishment of a new branch of biology. 18,000 first printing.
Traces the life and work of the pioneering seventeenth-century woman naturalist, discussing her unprecedented solo expedition to study insect metamorphosis in the New World and her role in the establishment of a new branch of biology.
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis - an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of "amateurs."
Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
In 1699, this artist-naturalist's lifelong passion for studying metamorphosis took her from Amsterdam to the rainforest of Surinam. Merian accomplished this as a single working woman in her 50s more than a century before Darwin's expedition. Despite initial recognition for accurate renditions of the life cycle of insects (as vs. then prevalent ideas about the spontaneous generation of life), Merian's observations were later devalued by male scientists. In prose as elegant as Merian's watercolor illustrations highlighting this reconstruction of her fascinating life and times, an award-winning nature writer (for Tinkering with Eden) gives her deserved due for her pioneering ecological approach. Todd adds personal notes on researching this subject. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis—an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of “amateurs.” Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosisan unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of amateurs.”Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
Traces the life and work of the pioneering seventeenth-century woman naturalist, discussing her unprecedented solo expedition to study insect metamorphosis in the New World and her role in the establishment of a new branch of biology.
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis - an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of "amateurs."
Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
In 1699, this artist-naturalist's lifelong passion for studying metamorphosis took her from Amsterdam to the rainforest of Surinam. Merian accomplished this as a single working woman in her 50s more than a century before Darwin's expedition. Despite initial recognition for accurate renditions of the life cycle of insects (as vs. then prevalent ideas about the spontaneous generation of life), Merian's observations were later devalued by male scientists. In prose as elegant as Merian's watercolor illustrations highlighting this reconstruction of her fascinating life and times, an award-winning nature writer (for Tinkering with Eden) gives her deserved due for her pioneering ecological approach. Todd adds personal notes on researching this subject. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis—an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of “amateurs.” Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosisan unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of amateurs.”Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.
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- Orlando : Harcourt, c2007.
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