Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis

Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Maria Sibylla Merian.

An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, Merian 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."

Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.

“Starred Review Few phenomena are as compelling as metamorphosis, and few have dedicated themselves to its study as passionately as Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Fascinated by the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies as a girl, Merian became a renowned naturalist and artist specializing in insect life. Gifted with an innate "sense of ecology," she depicted insects within their habitats a century ahead of Audubon, who did the same for birds. Todd (Tinkering with Eden, 2001) emulates Merian's richly contextual approach in her vivid descriptions of every facet of her subject's vibrant world as she insightfully chronicles Merian's extraordinary life as the daughter of a prominent Frankfurt publisher, an artist's wife in Nuremberg, a member of an isolated religious community, a renowned scientist and artist in progressive Amsterdam, and the practitioner of pioneering fieldwork in the rain forest of Surinam. In the face of systematic misogyny, Merian made invaluable discoveries in sync with Leeuwenhoek's development of the microscope and Linnaeus' grand classification scheme, yet was soon forgotten. Todd's discerning analysis and deep appreciation resurrect Merian and reclaim her still vital achievements, ensuring that Merian will stand as the resourceful and courageous visionary she truly was.”

"A breathtaking example of scholarship and storytelling, enriched by ample illustrations of Merian's work."

-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"In this spellbinding biography, Todd interweaves the life of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German artist and naturalist who became famous in the seventeenth century for her engravings of caterpillars, with the intellectual and scientific history of metamorphosis." -- The New Yorker

"What makes Chrysalis such a pleasure is that our awe is guided by Merian's discoveries. Her life was dedicated to understanding and depicting the science of transformation, yet she never lost her enchantment with what few of us could deny is also miraculous." -- Orion

"Drawing on Merian's work and personal documents, Todd sheds new light on the history and contributions of this absolutely amazing woman....Todd's writing itself is lush, almost poetic, whether she is describing the science of metamorphosis or Merian's own personal metamorphosis throughout her life." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"If Maria Sibylla Merian were alive today, she'd be on Oprah. A teen bride, she later left her husband and joined an obscure cult, supported herself by selling her paintings, and studied nature in the South American jungle at 52. The kicker? She did all this in the 17th century." -- Bust Magazine

Kim Todd is the author of four books about science and history, including Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis and Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America. Her most recent, Sensational, the Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters," was published by HarperCollins in April 2021. Her work has appeared in Orion, Sierra Magazine, Smithsonian, High Country News, and several Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies, among other places, and has received the PEN/Jerard Fund Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. She is currently on the creative writing MFA faculty at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches literary nonfiction. Learn more and get in touch at

"Fascinating reading about a little-known, independent woman."--""Science"" Today, an entomologist in a laboratory can gaze at a butterfly pupa with a microscope so powerful that the swirling cells on the pupa's skin look like a galaxy. She can activate a single gene or knock it out. What she can't do is discover how the insect behaves in its natural habitat--which means she doesn't know what steps to take to preserve it from extinction, nor how any particular gene may interact with the environment. Three hundred years ago, a fifty-two year-old German woman set sail on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis. She could not have imagined the routine magic that scientists perform today--but her absolute insistence on studying insects in their natural habitats was so far ahead of its time that it is only now coming back into favor. ""Chrysalis"" restores Maria Sibylla Merian to her rightful place in the history of science, taking us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel new approaches to both ecology and genetics. "What makes "Chrysalis" such a pleasure is that our awe is guided by Merian's discoveries. Her life was dedicated to understanding and depicting the science of transformation, yet she never lost her enchantment with what few of us could deny is also miraculous."--""Orion """ " "This lovely and thoughtful book sets Maria Merian's work in its natural context, restoring its true meaning and the reputation she deserves."--Andrea Barrett, author of ""The Voyage of the Narwhal """ " Kim Todd's previous book, ""Tinkering with Eden, "" received the PEN/Jerard Fund Award and theSigurd F. Olsen Nature Writing Award. Her essays and articles have appeared in ""Sierra, Orion, Backpacker, "" and ""Grist, "" among other places. She lives in Missoula, Montana.

Today, an entomologist in a laboratory can gaze at a butterfly pupa with a microscope so powerful that the swirling cells on the pupa's skin look like a galaxy. She can activate a single gene or knock it out. What she can't do is discover how the insect behaves in its natural habitat--which means she doesn't know what steps to take to preserve it from extinction, nor how any particular gene may interact with the environment. Four hundred years ago, a fifty-year-old Dutch woman set sail on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis. She could not have imagined the routine magic that scientists perform today--but her absolute insistence on studying insects in their natural habitats was so far ahead of its time that it is only now coming back into favor. Chrysalis restores Maria Sibylla Merian to her rightful place in the history of science, taking us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian's insights fuel new approaches to both ecology and genetics.

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