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Chrysalis
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About the Author

Kim Todd is the author of four books about science and history, including Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis and Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America. Her most recent, Sensational, the Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters," was published by HarperCollins in April 2021. Her work has appeared in Orion, Sierra Magazine, Smithsonian, High Country News, and several Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies, among other places, and has received the PEN/Jerard Fund Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. She is currently on the creative writing MFA faculty at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches literary nonfiction. Learn more and get in touch at www.kimtodd.net.

Reviews

"A breathtaking example of scholarship and storytelling, enriched by ample illustrations of Merian's work."

-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"In this spellbinding biography, Todd interweaves the life of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German artist and naturalist who became famous in the seventeenth century for her engravings of caterpillars, with the intellectual and scientific history of metamorphosis." -- The New Yorker"What makes Chrysalis such a pleasure is that our awe is guided by Merian's discoveries. Her life was dedicated to understanding and depicting the science of transformation, yet she never lost her enchantment with what few of us could deny is also miraculous." -- Orion"Drawing on Merian's work and personal documents, Todd sheds new light on the history and contributions of this absolutely amazing woman....Todd's writing itself is lush, almost poetic, whether she is describing the science of metamorphosis or Merian's own personal metamorphosis throughout her life." -- Library Journal (starred review)"If Maria Sibylla Merian were alive today, she'd be on Oprah. A teen bride, she later left her husband and joined an obscure cult, supported herself by selling her paintings, and studied nature in the South American jungle at 52. The kicker? She did all this in the 17th century." -- Bust Magazine

Women's contributions to science have historically been overlooked or discredited, and we are left with the impression that women played no role in the field's advancement. Such was the case for the gifted naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), whose watercolors and text documented the (still-mysterious) process of metamorphosis at the turn of the 17th century. Though her work was valued at the time, it was discredited in the 1800s. Drawing on Merian's work and personal documents, Todd (Tinkering with Eden) sheds new light on the history and contributions of this absolutely amazing woman. Not only did her interest in science fall outside normal gender roles but Merian also traveled at the age of 50 as far as Surinam from Europe to study her beloved caterpillars. Admittedly filling in some blanks where no documentation exists, Todd explains that all we really need to know about the woman can be seen through the passion of her work. Todd's writing itself is lush, almost poetic, whether she is describing the science of metamorphosis or Merian's own personal metamorphoses throughout her life. Highly recommended for all public and research libraries.-Marianne Stowell Bracke, Purdue Univ. Libs., West Lafayette, IN Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"A breathtaking example of scholarship and storytelling, enriched by ample illustrations of Merian's work."

-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"In this spellbinding biography, Todd interweaves the life of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German artist and naturalist who became famous in the seventeenth century for her engravings of caterpillars, with the intellectual and scientific history of metamorphosis." -- The New Yorker"What makes Chrysalis such a pleasure is that our awe is guided by Merian's discoveries. Her life was dedicated to understanding and depicting the science of transformation, yet she never lost her enchantment with what few of us could deny is also miraculous." -- Orion"Drawing on Merian's work and personal documents, Todd sheds new light on the history and contributions of this absolutely amazing woman....Todd's writing itself is lush, almost poetic, whether she is describing the science of metamorphosis or Merian's own personal metamorphosis throughout her life." -- Library Journal (starred review)"If Maria Sibylla Merian were alive today, she'd be on Oprah. A teen bride, she later left her husband and joined an obscure cult, supported herself by selling her paintings, and studied nature in the South American jungle at 52. The kicker? She did all this in the 17th century." -- Bust Magazine

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