The Lady and the Octopus
How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology
Born in a small village in eighteenth-century France, Jeanne Villepreux wasn’t expected to transform marine science.
Curious, creative, and clever, Jeanne ventured to Paris by foot as a teenager. After achieving acclaim as a seamstress, she met a wealthy merchant and traveled with him to Sicily, where they married. Rather than settling into a life of domesticity on this beautiful island, she set out to investigate its natural wonders, from fossils and insects on land to the marvelous mysteries of the sea.
In an era when women weren’t accepted into scientific societies and many naturalists based their findings on dead specimens, Jeanne fashioned her own fortune. She observed and experimented on living animals, in particular one very unusual shelled octopus called an argonaut. To keep argonauts and other sea creatures alive long enough to learn from them, she invented a device to hold them—the aquarium. With patience and persistence, she solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of whether argonauts grow or steal their shells, and she made sure the scientific world knew about it.
Author and octopus enthusiast Danna Staaf presents an engrossing look at the life and science of Jeanne Villepreux-Power, showing how this remarkable woman helped bring about a sea change in the study of marine life.
| Format | Your Price | Add |
|---|---|---|
|
978-1-7284-1577-2
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$20.99 | |
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978-1-7284-6848-8
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$33.99 |
| Interest Level | Grade 5 - Grade 12 |
|---|---|
| Reading Level | Grade 6 |
| Genre | Social Studies |
| Category | 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction, Animals, Diverse Books: Feminism, Diversity, SEL: B Self-Management, SEL: E Responsible Decision-Making, Social Emotional Learning, STEM, STEM: Life Science/Animals, STEM: Technology |
| Copyright | 2022 |
| Publisher | Lerner Publishing Group |
| Imprint | Carolrhoda Books ® |
| Language | English |
| Number of Pages | 136 |
| Publication Date | 2022-10-04 |
Author: Danna Staaf
Danna Staaf is a freelance science communicator with a PhD in marine biology. Her writing has appeared in Science, KQED, Earther, and io9, and her first book, Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods (now reprinted as Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods), was named one of the best science books of 2017 by NPR. She created the science outreach program Squids4Kids and visits schools at every grade level, as well as venues from museums to libraries to tech companies. She lives in San Jose with her spouse, children, and innumerable plush octopuses.
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Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. In the early 1800s she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how of the argonaut octopus gets its shell. Follow her story in the new nonfiction The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne… View →
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Awards
- Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year
- Booklist Top 10 History for Youth
- Booklist Top 10 Science and Technology Books for Youth
- Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices
- Booklist Top 10 Biographies & Memoirs for Youth
- School Library Journal Best Book of 2022
Reviews
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)
“Readers will be amazed by Villepreux-Power and the interesting journey she made from seamstress to self-taught scientist, credited with creating the first aquariums and studying live aquatic animals in the process of discovery.” –Children’s Literature
Booklist
“An illuminating work on a scientist in the same league as Maria Sibylla Merian and Mary Anning.”—starred, Booklist
Publishers Weekly
“Highly detailed, conversational chapters feature archival material, scientific drawings, and full-color photos in a handsome layout, and numerous contextualizing sidebars cover topics ranging from the ethics of animal experimentation to the metric system.”—Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal
“This author is as resourceful and ingenious in relating the story of her subject as Jeanne Villepreux-Power was in her scholarly endeavors. . . . This life story of an important female pioneer in the sciences is highly recommended.”—starred, School Library Journal
Kirkus Reviews
“[W]ell researched and expertly explained. A seaworthy bio of a revolutionary scientist.”—Kirkus Reviews
Sy Montgomery
“This story of one woman’s pluck, determination, and scientific insight is a riveting read for anyone of any age!”—Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus, a National Book Award finalist
Joyce Sidman
“This book bursts with the passion and enthusiasm of its subject with lively, engaging, and at times humorous text. Fascinating from beginning to end!”—Joyce Sidman, author of The Girl Who Drew Butterflies, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal