The lady and the octopus : how Jeanne Villepreux-Power invented aquariums and revolutionized marine biology

Title:

Author:

Summary:

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 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. -- Amazon.

Audience:

Ages 10-18 Carolrhoda Books ®.

Grades 7-9 Carolrhoda Books ®.

Physical Description:

136 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps (chiefly color), portraits (some color) ; 27 cm

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal Subject:

Villepreux-Power, Jeanne, 1794-1871-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

Women marine biologists -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Women naturalists -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Aquariums -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature.

Marine biology -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature.

Women tailors -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature.

Octopuses -- Juvenile literature.

Publisher:

Carolrhoda Books,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781728415772

Publication Information:

Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Books, [2022]

Call Number:

J 920 VILLEPREUXPOWER

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003651521	New Juvenile Nonfiction	920 VILLEPREUXPOWER	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

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.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

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

Publisher's Weekly Review

Staaf pays thorough tribute to Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794--1871), credited with inventing the aquarium while researching sea life off Sicily's coast. The French native combined a keen interest in the natural world with artistic and engineering skills--and freedoms afforded by wealth--to study sea creatures, primarily the argonaut octopus. "Jeanne's overarching question: Is the argonaut a builder or a thief?" She settled the question--builder--while helping move her field forward by creating the aquarium to study aquatic animals in their natural environment. When recorded history is lacking, Staaf offers educated suppositions and provoking questions. 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. Ample back matter concludes a comprehensive portrait of a trend-bucking innovator and polymath. Ages 10--up. (Oct.)