The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology

Gr 8 Up—This biography seems on the surface to be a typical description of a historic female scientist whose discoveries went unheralded in her lifetime. More careful consideration reveals that this author is as resourceful and ingenious in relating the story of her subject as Jeanne Villepreux-Power was in her scholarly endeavors. Though she grew up in obscurity in rural France during the French Revolution, Villepreux-Power bravely ventured to Paris when she was 17 years old. There she parlayed her creativity and initiative into jobs in women's fashions. Her design of a wedding dress for a princess brought her notoriety and the particular attention of her future husband. Villepreux-Power moved to Sicily with her husband and began her self-education and experimentation with the natural world. She became an expert in many areas of natural history and biology, but her most important accomplishments were in the study of cephalopods and in the development of the apparatus needed for the study of these creatures in their natural environments. Villepreux-Power developed and employed several different aquariums and went to great efforts to see her findings published and her accomplishments acknowledged by her scientific contemporaries. This narrative not only features the compelling story of her life and work in vivid and accessible language, but also includes a helpful time line, glossary of key terms, index, source notes for each chapter, and suggestions for further reading. The frequent illustrations and feature insets provide important context for the main events in Villepreux-Power's life. VERDICT This life story of an important female pioneer in the sciences is highly recommended for middle and high school nonfiction collections.—Kelly Kingrey-Edwards

Staaf pays thorough tribute to Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794-1871), credited with inventing the aquarium while researching sea life off Sicily's coast. The French native combined a keen interest in the natural world with artistic and engineering skills--and freedoms afforded by wealth--to study sea creatures, primarily the argonaut octopus. "Jeanne's overarching question: Is the argonaut a builder or a thief?" She settled the question--builder--while helping move her field forward by creating the aquarium to study aquatic animals in their natural environment. When recorded history is lacking, Staaf offers educated suppositions and provoking questions. 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. Ample back matter concludes a comprehensive portrait of a trend-bucking innovator and polymath. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)

"An account of the life of the pioneering Frenchwoman who invented the aquarium.

While she is not a household name today, Jeanne Villepreux-Power's influence can still be felt. Born in 1794, Villepreux-Power was famed for her study of sea creatures, particularly a type of octopus called the argonaut. The book argues convincingly that sexism and a tragic shipwreck that sank 16 cases of her specimens, drawings, and notes made the brilliant scientist less well known than she should have been. Overcoming those obstacles, as well as the primitive state of life science study in the 1800s—in particular the limited ability to study sea creatures in their habitats—and aided by the privilege of being a White woman of means, Villepreux-Power invented the first glass aquariums to observe sea life and discovered that argonauts build their shells rather than find them at sea, as was believed at the time. Marine biologist, science writer, and fellow cephalopod expert Staaf details Villepreux-Power's life using a mix of existing research about the woman and more recent scientific findings. The book takes plenty of detours into history and culture to better explain thorny issues, such as the treatment of animals, full-page takes on the metric system, and the effects of oil on water. It feels like a few too many asides for a straightforward biography, but as a broader look at the life of a scientist in the 1800s, it's well researched and expertly explained.

A seaworthy bio of a revolutionary scientist."—Kirkus Reviews