Great book. The science and the art get plenty of play and the life, hidden as it is by the stretch of centuries, is there , nonetheless, revealed somewhat if not in as much detail as one would like. Glad she goives credit to Mewrian for her observational skills and her ecological nature, before such a thing was named. ( )

Earlier in the year I read a nonfiction book about butterflies that referenced Maria Sibylla Merian, and I immediately knew I wanted to know more detail about this 17th century woman's life. Kim Todd's biography of Merian is fantastic - delving into what is known of Merian's life and solidly placing her in context of the world and times she lived in. It's also a beautiful book that includes Merian's artwork throughout.

Merian was a German woman whose father was a printer. From early in childhood she was involved in printing and engraving, which set the stage for her forays into portraying the life cycles of the caterpillars she was obsessed with. She published 3 books with colored plates depicting the life cycle of butterflies, based on her detailed and laborious work studying the insects. As an adult, Merian was part of a Labadist movement - a religious sect that encouraged a direct connection of each person with the Bible and God and tried to remove the distractions of possessions. The Labadists had connections with a colony in Surinam in South America and at the grand age of 52, Merian decided to make a trip there with her daughter to study the insects and animals of the region. While she was there, she ran up against many problems, one being the sheer volume of insects. Also, it was dangerous to spend time in the rain forest collecting and observing. There was also the excessive heat, enslaved people in revolt, and disease to contend with. Nonetheless, she collected many specimens, created many notebooks and journals of observations and studies, and spent time with the native people learning from them what they already knew of the wildlife of the region. After two years she returned to Europe and put together another book, based on her studies in Surinam.

Merian was a trail blazer in the idea of studying insects in their own environments and following one insect through its life cycle. Her exquisite art work generally shows all stages of the insect's life. She'll draw the plant it feeds on, show the caterpillar munching away, include the pupa, larvae, and emerged butterfly as well. This was not something that others in the field were doing. In the last chapters, Todd explores why Merian's work has been discounted and overlooked and how that is beginning to change.

I really enjoyed this biography and high recommend it. ( )

A fascinating and compelling book about a pioneering entomologist, Chrysalis combines the best aspects of biography, history, travel log, and science into a single gripping story. Maria Sibylla Merian was a woman far ahead of her time, an insect enthusiast who studied the process of metamorphosis when most people thought insects were spawned spontaneously and a skilled artist who insisted on sketching her highly detailed portraits from life in a period when outlandish and exaggerated drawings were popular. In addition to her incredibly full and adventurous life this book also includes the fall from popularity to obscurity Maria's reputation and work suffered after her death. Discussing why Maria was dismissed and ridiculed as a foolish old lady after her death for making claims that she witnessed and were later corroborated by other scientists is a crucial and fascinating part of her story and the author takes great pains to emphasize that. This is an enjoyable book for science lovers in general or entomologists in particular, for fans of history books or biographies or anyone interested in interesting individuals that history has largely forgotten. ( )

I had not heard about Maria Sybilla Merian until a friend told me she was reading about her in a book club. I was intrigued and rightly so. This biography is the fascinating story about a seventeenth century daughter of a publisher in Frankfurt learned art techniques in her father's shop and used them to record her observations of insects and plants in Germany, the Netherlands, and Suriname. During her life time, all science was still heavily influenced by religious attitudes, superstitions, awkward conclusions and personal prejudices. Also women did not really have a place in science, since universities did not admit women.
I enjoyed reading this combination of natural and cultural history. The book was well researched and clearly written. My main objection was that there was sometimes too much detail. The chapter about how Merian's work got criticized, distorted, sold after her death made me fall asleep. Stuff like that belongs in footnotes or an appendix.
Some reviewers objected to the author's assumptions of what Maria Sybilla may have thought. That did not bother me. I liked it as an illustration of the period. Overall I am lad I read this book. I learned a lot from it.
( )

An excellent read. Ticked a lot of boxes - history, science, women, art, travel, religion - yet managed to pull it all together. I'm not sure that all the speculation about what Maria Merian might have seen or thought was really necessary... it might be fun to write a book about a contemporary scientist from 300 years in the future and fill it full of such speculation, but I think it would sound unnecessary and trite. Here it was saved by being 300 years in the past and based on good research. And the idea of an extraordinary woman living alongside so many other extraordinary women of the time was exactly what came across to me before reaching that very conclusion written in the last chapter. ( )