Submitted by mr46636 on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 14:13
Although long portrayed as merely an illustrator, Merian’s close observation of the ecology and life cycles of insects influenced later naturalists. She raised money for a scientific expedition to Surinam at a time when the Dutch government funded only men, and was unusual for traveling as a single woman with her daughter. Her work relied on the knowledge and labor of enslaved people, and also commented on the harsh conditions of slavery.
A few good places to start:
- Poskett, James. Horizons: A Global History of Science. Penguin Books, 2022. https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/9e1640/alma991058325504506011.
- Natural History Museum. “Chapter 2: People and Slavery.” Slavery and the Natural World. Natural History Museum (2007): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/slavery-and-the-natural-world.html.
- Schiebinger, Londa. Plants and Empire: Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/9e1640/alma991002654579706011.
- Todd, Kim. Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis. Orlando: Harcourt, 2007. https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/1ilchdf/alma991019017719706011
- Davis, Natalie Zemon. Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Century Lives. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/1ilchdf/alma991011928219706011
See also:
- Latty, Tanya. “Hidden Women of History: Maria Sibylla Merian, 17th-Century Entomologist and Scientific Adventurer.” The Conversation (2019): https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-maria-sibylla-merian-17th-century-entomologist-and-scientific-adventurer-112057.
- Lotzof, Kerry. "Maria Sibylla Merian: metamorphosis unmasked by art and science." Natural History Museum: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/maria-sibylla-merian-metamorphosis-art-and-science.html
- Tyrrell, Katherine. "About Maria Sibylla Merian
(1647-1717)." Botanical Art & Artists: https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/about-maria-sibylla-merian.html
