THE GIRL WHO DREW BUTTERFLIES How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

Listen to a narrator who transitions deftly between the different voices in a complex audiobook. Welcome to the seventeenth-century world of Maria Merian, born into an artistic family but a girl with the heart and conviction of a scientist. From an early age, Maria spent time in the field observing, first insects, then butterflies and moths, and also amphibians—all creatures whose biology was little understood. She honed her artistic skill and determinedly brought to it her passion as she observed and recorded the various creatures. Whether it is the story itself, a scientific sidebar, or a direct quote from Maria Merian’s journal, Catherine Ho has a voice for each. Her empathy for Merian’s frustrations is heartfelt and in sharp contrast to the clipped tone she uses for factual observations. A.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2019]