Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer

A 2018 Moonbeam Children's Books Gold Award Winner!
 
In 1660, at the age of thirteen, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) began her study of butterfly metamorphosis—years before any other scientist published an accurate description of the process. Later, Merian and her daughter ventured thousands of miles from their home in the Netherlands to the rainforests of South America seeking new and amazing insects to observe and illustrate.  
 
Years after her death, Merian’s accurate and beautiful illustrations were used by scientists, including Carl Linnaeus, to classify species, and today her prints and paintings are prized by museums around the world. More than a dozen species of plants and animals are named after Merian.  

About the Authors: 

• Sarah B. Pomeroy is Distinguished Professor of Classics and History, Emerita, at Hunter College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York.  She is an Honorary Fellow of St. Hilda’s College, the University of Oxford.
• Jeyaraney Kathirithamby was a Rhodes Visiting Fellow and is an entomologist at the Department of Zoology and St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford. She is the world authority on the entomophagous parasitoid Strepsiptera and has traveled to Asia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Europe, and North and South America for collection of material. She has published over 100 scientific papers, and in collaboration with her husband, Malcolm Davies, she has written a book, Greek Insects.

Hardcover - Illustrated:  96 pages 

ISBN - 978-1947440012 

Reading age: 8 - 12 years 

Grade level: 3 - 7 

Dimensions: 8.75 x 0.75 x 10.5 inches