Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Maria Sibylla Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, Merian 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...

"A biographical novel in verse of three different girls in three different time periods who grew up to become groundbreaking scientists"--

"A science educator honors children's curiosity and pockets full of "stuff" by introducing eight scientists who collected natural treasures when they were young. Collecting, sorting, and playing with shells, stones, and other objects taught these young people how to observe, classify, and discover"--

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 into the rainforests of South America seeking new and amazing insects to observe and illustrate.

"With a single hair of the brush, Maria Sibylla Merian could convey the delicate wings of a butterfly, the minute bristles on a caterpillar, or a gleaming pupa with the insect just emerging. No other artist of her day could rival the brilliance and accuracy of her work. Queen Elizabeth II and the British Museum in London own many splendid works - reproduced in this book - by this German artist. Born in 1647 in Frankfurt, then the center of the publishing...