Includes bibliographical references (pages 302-316) and index.

Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist, known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis--an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of "amateurs." This book takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel a new branch of biology. Author Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.--From publisher description. The most noble of all the worms -- Godly miracles in a little book -- That which is found in the fens and heath -- Le Grande monde -- An awesome and expensive trip -- Far out into the wilderness -- The first and strangest work that had ever been painted in America -- The modern world is very sensitive -- Because of its color so special.