A teenage, female scientist from the 1600s? Really? The true story of Maria Merian, who lived in 17th century Germany. Apparently in the Middle Ages, people believed that insects spontaneously generated from the mud and hence were evil –an idea going back to the ancient Greeks. But thirteen-year-old Maria is a keen observer of the natural world. She sees the butterflies lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars, and turn into butterflies. She observes and documents their whole life cycle. Maria loves to paint and records details of what type of leaves they ate and what flowers they drink nectar from. Beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated by Julie Paschkis.
I was very surprised to have never heard of Maria Merian, a remarkable woma
n for any time period, but even more so when framed by the context of the 17th century. An amazing confluence of events led to her success; her father was a printmaker, her stepfather a botanical artist, her location in Germany just as printing technology was coming of age. And a family that must have nurtured her curiosity, or at the very least must not have stifled it. As an adult she traveled to South America to observe and record insects, plants, birds and reptiles. More about Maria Merian can be found at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Women in the Arts site: http://www.nmwa.org/collection/profile.asp?LinkID=588.
Image Credit: This image is Plate 9 (from “Dissertation in Insect Generations and Metamorphosis in Surinam”) 1719. Bound volume of seventy-two hand-colored engravings (second edition), Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Sounds fascinating. I am going to try to check it out! Thanks.