Chrysalis

Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Biological Sciences, Physiology, Biography & Memoir, Reference
Cover of the book Chrysalis by Kim Todd, HMH Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Kim Todd ISBN: 9780547538099
Publisher: HMH Books Publication: September 16, 2013
Imprint: Mariner Books Language: English
Author: Kim Todd
ISBN: 9780547538099
Publisher: HMH Books
Publication: September 16, 2013
Imprint: Mariner Books
Language: English

Today, an entomologist in a laboratory can gaze at a butterfly pupa with a microscope so powerful that the swirling cells on the pupa’s skin look like a galaxy. She can activate a single gene or knock it out. What she can’t do is discover how the insect behaves in its natural habitat—which means she doesn’t know what steps to take to preserve it from extinction, nor how any particular gene may interact with the environment. Four hundred years ago, a fifty-year-old Dutch woman set sail on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis. She could not have imagined the routine magic that scientists perform today—but her absolute insistence on studying insects in their natural habitats was so far ahead of its time that it is only now coming back into favor. Chrysalis restores Maria Sibylla Merian to her rightful place in the history of science, taking us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel new approaches to both ecology and genetics.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Today, an entomologist in a laboratory can gaze at a butterfly pupa with a microscope so powerful that the swirling cells on the pupa’s skin look like a galaxy. She can activate a single gene or knock it out. What she can’t do is discover how the insect behaves in its natural habitat—which means she doesn’t know what steps to take to preserve it from extinction, nor how any particular gene may interact with the environment. Four hundred years ago, a fifty-year-old Dutch woman set sail on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis. She could not have imagined the routine magic that scientists perform today—but her absolute insistence on studying insects in their natural habitats was so far ahead of its time that it is only now coming back into favor. Chrysalis restores Maria Sibylla Merian to her rightful place in the history of science, taking us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel new approaches to both ecology and genetics.

More books from HMH Books

Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Morrison's Beloved by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Once Upon a Marigold by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Bradford Street Buddies: Backyard Camp-Out by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Steering the Craft by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Decoding Your Dog by Kim Todd
Cover of the book If You Left by Kim Todd
Cover of the book The Namesake by Kim Todd
Cover of the book The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Everyday Dorie by Kim Todd
Cover of the book The Best American Essays 2019 by Kim Todd
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Wharton's Ethan Frome by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Mind Games by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Gun, with Occasional Music by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Anywhere Artist by Kim Todd
Cover of the book Under the Same Sky by Kim Todd
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy