From Carolyn to the List,
The name Maria Sibylla Merian was familiar to me from this List - - I believe the Nabokov family library contained some of her work. I received a new biography of the "artist turned naturalist" (blurb) entitled Chrysalis, Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis - - who among us could resist such a title? Not me, apparently and the book does look very promising. More from the blurb:
"An artist turned naturalist known today mostly for her exquisite butterfly prints, Maria Sibylla Merian was born just thirteen years after Galileo was prosecuted for proclaiming the earth orbited the sun. ...
For two years she stalked the tropical wilderness [of South America] looking for the caterpillars that were her passion .... [She was] one of the first to describe metamorphosis at a time when theories of spontaneous generation held sway ..."
The bibliography looks particularly promising: primary sources are Merian's work and letters; other sources range from the ancients (Aristotle) to the "early modern" (Bacon), from a 1703 advertisement in the transactions of The Royal Society to works by Aphra Behn; names from Anthasius Kircher to Darwin and Stephen Gould. Oh, and a certain Nabokov gets three mentions in the index.
In short - - looks very appetising,
Carolyn