Lost Women of History
Lost Women of History
Naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian travelled to South America in 1699 to study insects, conducting field research in the rain forest years before Darwin and Humboldt. A pioneer of entomology, she wrote four books on metamorphosis and was famous in her day, but then, for centuries, her work fell into obscurity. And she wasn't alone. Other women before and after her lived exceptional lives that never made it into the history books. This lecture will explore why women like Merian fall through the cracks, detail the importance of reclaiming their stories, and outline what we can do to restore them to their rightful place. – Kim Todd, MFA
Kim Todd
Award-winning science and environmental writer Kim Todd is the author of Sparrow, a natural and cultural history of a loved and reviled bird; Chrysalis, Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis; and Tinkering with Eden, a Natural History of Exotic Species in America. Her work has appeared in Orion, Sierra, and River Teeth, among other places, and is forthcoming in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015. She lives in Minneapolis, where she teaches literary nonfiction in the University of Minnesota's MFA program.
