In previous WoWs, I have profiled some current and recent climate change women warriors. Tonight, let’s look at the lives of some early environmental warriors.
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717): German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator who spent years in Amsterdam, and traveled to Surinam in South America to study its flora and fauna; she was one of the first naturalists to observe insects directly. Her major works include Neues Blumenbuch (1675), three volumes of watercolors of flowers and insects; Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung (1679)(“The caterpillar’s wonderful transformation”), with another caterpillar book about 1681; and Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705). She has been called the greatest insect artist of all time. She proved that insects came from eggs; this was in direct contradiction of the prevailing belief at the time that insects were spontaneously generated from mud. Her Surinam book has been republished several times since her death. Please see part of it below.
Trigger warning: The below is mostly butterflies, but there are a few creepy crawlies if you are extremely insect-avoidant; otherwise it’s beautiful:
More details and more of the book can be seen here, for those who may be interested.
Margaret Fuller (1810-1850): American journalist, editor, critic and women’s right’s activist, part of the Transcendentalist movement, editor of The Dial, the transcendentalist journal (1840-1842). In the summer of 1843, she traveled to Chicago, Milwaukee, Niagara Falls, and Buffalo, New York, and interacted with several Native Americans, including members of the Ottawa and the Chippewa tribes. She reported her experiences in a book called Summer on the Lakes, in 1843, one of the first American authors to describe and express concern over the environmental havoc which white hunters and settlers were creating, killing massive amounts of wildlife, and axing whole stands of trees. She died in a shipwreck near shore with many others including her son; because of stormy weather, rescue efforts were futile. Ironically, her memorial was also washed away in a storm. :-(
Her book is still available (at the above link). She is also the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography:
As usual, I’ve spent way too much time seeking more information on these remarkable women! So onto the news.