Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology



by
Danna Staaf

Edition
Library edition
Publisher
Lerner
Imprint
Carolrhoda
ISBN
9781728415772
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Medical: Animal Anatomy/Reproduction , Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion
$23.57   $19.64
SEE MEMBER PRICE
QTY

JLG Category

Nonfiction Middle

An immensely engaging look at at the life of an unconventional woman who made major discoveries.

Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. Born in 1794 in a French village more than 100 miles from the ocean, she pursued an improbable path that brought her to the island of Sicily. There, she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how of the argonaut octopus gets its shell.

In an era when most research focused on dead specimens, Jeanne was determined to experiment on living animals. And to keep sea creatures alive for her studies, she had to invent a contraption to hold them—the aquarium. Her remarkable life story is told by author, marine biologist, and octopus enthusiast Danna Staaf.

Author’s note. Time line. Glossary. Source notes. Bibliography. Index. Black-and-white and full-color photographs, reproductions, maps, and diagrams.

POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Medical: Animal Anatomy/Reproduction , Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion

Details

Format

Print

Page Count

136

Trim Size

8" x 10"

Dewey

B

AR

0: points 0

Lexile

1220L

Genre

Nonfic

Scholastic Reading Counts

0

JLG Release

Dec 2022

Book Genres

Autobiography/Biography, Narrative Nonfiction

Topics

Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794–1871). Women marine biologists. Women naturalists. France. Aquariums. 

Standard MARC Records

Download Standard MARC Records

Cover Art

Download Cover Art

Praise & Reviews

School Library Journal

School Library Journal

Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-This biography seems on the surface to be a typical description of a historic female scientist whose discoveries went unheralded in her lifetime. More careful consideration reveals that this author is as resourceful and ingenious in relating the story of her subject as Jeanne Villepreux-Power was in her scholarly endeavors. Though she grew up in obscurity in rural France during the French Revolution, Villepreux-Power bravely ventured to Paris when she was 17 years old. There she parlayed her creativity and initiative into jobs in women's fashions. Her design of a wedding dress for a princess brought her notoriety and the particular attention of her future husband. Villepreux-Power moved to Sicily with her husband and began her self-education and experimentation with the natural world. She became an expert in many areas of natural history and biology, but her most important accomplishments were in the study of cephalopods and in the development of the apparatus needed for the study of these creatures in their natural environments. Villepreux-Power developed and employed several different aquariums and went to great efforts to see her findings published and her accomplishments acknowledged by her scientific contemporaries. This narrative not only features the compelling story of her life and work in vivid and accessible language, but also includes a helpful time line, glossary of key terms, index, source notes for each chapter, and suggestions for further reading. The frequent illustrations and feature insets provide important context for the main events in Villepreux-Power's life. VERDICT This life story of an important female pioneer in the sciences is highly recommended for middle and high school nonfiction collections.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Praise & Reviews

School Library Journal

School Library Journal

Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-This biography seems on the surface to be a typical description of a historic female scientist whose discoveries went unheralded in her lifetime. More careful consideration reveals that this author is as resourceful and ingenious in relating the story of her subject as Jeanne Villepreux-Power was in her scholarly endeavors. Though she grew up in obscurity in rural France during the French Revolution, Villepreux-Power bravely ventured to Paris when she was 17 years old. There she parlayed her creativity and initiative into jobs in women's fashions. Her design of a wedding dress for a princess brought her notoriety and the particular attention of her future husband. Villepreux-Power moved to Sicily with her husband and began her self-education and experimentation with the natural world. She became an expert in many areas of natural history and biology, but her most important accomplishments were in the study of cephalopods and in the development of the apparatus needed for the study of these creatures in their natural environments. Villepreux-Power developed and employed several different aquariums and went to great efforts to see her findings published and her accomplishments acknowledged by her scientific contemporaries. This narrative not only features the compelling story of her life and work in vivid and accessible language, but also includes a helpful time line, glossary of key terms, index, source notes for each chapter, and suggestions for further reading. The frequent illustrations and feature insets provide important context for the main events in Villepreux-Power's life. VERDICT This life story of an important female pioneer in the sciences is highly recommended for middle and high school nonfiction collections.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Grades 5-8
Nonfiction Middle
For Grades 5-8

Knowledge is power, and no other category speaks to this more. The 12 books in this category range from autobiographies to anthropological studies, these nonfiction titles are just right for middle-school readers . . . and ideal for research and classroom support, too.

12 books per Year
$259.20 per Year
Interests
Clean Books,Biographies,Diversity,History,Nonfiction,Science/STEAM
Like this book?
Get more like this every month.
LEARN MORE
Grades 5-8
Nonfiction Middle
12 books per Year
$259.20 per Year

Other Recommended Titles From Nonfiction Middle

Nonfiction Middle

July 2023

Nonfiction Middle

June 2023
Copyright © 2017 Magento, Inc. All rights reserved.11