Teaching Moment: Maria Sibylla Merian's 366th Birthday

Teaching Moment!

Today's Google Doodle is a very pretty figure with leaves and animals. The hovertext proclaims April 2 as "Maria Sibylla Merian's 366th Birthday".

Wasserskorpion, Frösche, Kaulquappen
und Wasserhyazinthe
Amsterdam 1705

Wikipedia says Maria Sibylla Merian was a naturalist and scientific illustrator who studied plants and insects and made detailed paintings about them. She was born in 1647 in Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire (now in Germany) and received her artistic training from her stepfather Jacob Marrel, who was a still life painter.


When she was 52 she traveled to the Surinam jungle in South America to understand metamorphosis in as many species as possible. There she discovered a new species, but was known to have huge trees cut down just to collect the insects. (Not a very eco-friendly tactic, from a modern point of view).

She published her major work "Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium", containing her careful observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly, and is considered the most significant contributors to the field of entomology (the study of insects).

 Though it was difficult for women to work in science during Medieval times, during the 16th and 17th centuries of the Scientific Revolution women could work in science Germany. There, the tradition of female participation in craft production enabled some women to become involved in observational science, especially astronomy. Between 1650 and 1710, women made up 14% of all German astronomers.

Still, according to Michon Scott "Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was often judged harshly during the 19th century. Merian was occasionally criticized for depicting insects on plants they didn't inhabit, but she explained that she didn't want to show the same plant again and again. One picture that drew particular scorn showed the murder of a hummingbird by a wretched tarantula. Reverend Lansdown Guilding, who, in the words of one historian, "never set foot in Surinam," called the plate "entomological caricature." What upset him, besides the bird-killing spider, was the depiction of ants building bridges with their bodies — a process that surprises no one today" (Scott 2011).

For more information check out a biography on her, like Kim Todd's Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis. I know I will!

References:

Scott, Michon (2011). Maria Sibylla Merian. Retrieved form http://www.strangescience.net/merian.htm

Todd, Kim (n.d.) Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis. Retrieved from http://www.kimtodd.net/chrysalis__maria_sibylla_merian_and_the_secrets_of_metamorphosis_52898.htm

Wikipedia (2013 April 02). Maria Sibylla Merian. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sibylla_Merian

 Wikipedia (2013). Women in Science. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_science#Scientific_Revolution_.2816th.2C_17th_centuries.29