The Flowering of Ecology: Maria Sibylla Merian's Caterpillar Book (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789004284791)

The Flowering of Ecology presents an English translation of Maria Sibylla Merian's 1679 'caterpillar' book, Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumen-Nahrung. Her processes in making the book and an analysis of its scientific content are presented in a historical context. Merian raised insects for five decades, recording the food plants, behavior and ecology of roughly 300 species. Her most influential invention was an 'ecological' composition in which the metamorphic cycles of insects (usually moths and butterflies) were arrayed around plants that served as food for the caterpillars. Kay Etheridge analyzes the 1679 caterpillar book from the viewpoint of a biologist, arguing that Merian's study of insect interactions with plants, the first of its kind, was a formative contribution to natural history.

Read Kay Etheridge's blogpost on "Art Herstory".

See inside the book.

Author: Kay Etheridge
ISBN-10: 9004284796
ISBN-13: 9789004284791
Publisher: Brill
Language: English
Published: 12/11/2020
Pages: 412
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.80lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2022