The Lady and the Octopus - by Danna Staaf (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Follow the remarkable journey of Jeanne Villepreux-Power from her childhood in a small French village to her life as a naturalist in nineteenth-century Messina, Sicily, where she conducted groundbreaking research and invented aquariums".--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"[W]ell researched and expertly explained. A seaworthy bio of a revolutionary scientist."--Kirkus Reviews

-- (8/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"An illuminating work on a scientist in the same league as Maria Sibylla Merian and Mary Anning."--starred, Booklist

-- (11/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"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

-- (10/24/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"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

-- (3/8/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"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

-- (10/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"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

-- (5/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"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

-- (5/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)