The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology by Danna Staaf
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Special thanks to Carolrhoda Books for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. Born in 1794 in a French village more than 100 miles from the ocean, she pursued an improbable path that brought her to the island of Sicily. There, she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how of the argonaut octopus gets its shell. In an era when most research focused on dead specimens, Jeanne was determined to experiment on living animals. And to keep sea creatures alive for her studies, she had to invent a contraption to hold them―the aquarium (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
The Lady and the Octopus by Danna Staaf is a short semi-biography of the inventor of the aquarium and the study of argonauts (anomalies of the octopi world).
Staaf cycles through eight main topics to encapsulate who Jeanne Villepreux-Power was, and how she impacted the world of marine biology. I initially found the content of the first few chapters to be dry as Staaf steered away from Jeanne’s scientific life. The French Revolution portion took up a decent chunk combined with seemingly random history facts. This book initially piqued my interest due to my presumption that it’d be focused on the scientific portions of Jeanne’s story. Nevertheless, I understand why Staaf built a foundation of the historical context as she referenced the societal aspects more often than not.
Immense mystery surrounds Jeanne’s livelihood. Although she pioneered marine biology and published countless reports regarding her findings on argonauts, little is documented about her personal life. The author is blunt when she could not obtain enough findings, yet the book doesn’t come off as a true biography. I considered this book a semi-biography because of its heavy historical content that doesn’t always apply to Jeanne’s life. At times, I felt that sections about French fashion and the Revolution didn’t blend well with the scientific narrative found in the later half of the book.
This book is targeted for middle-schoolers and young teens because its contents are not too difficult to understand. I don’t believe I made a great choice to review this book as I’m not so fond of books that pack a punch about history. I didn’t know much about the creator of Aquariums and argonauts, so in that sense, I’m glad I learned something new! However, because The Lady and the Octopus felt dull for my reading level, it wasn’t the most enjoyable read. Twelve year-old me would have loved this book for the right reading level on scientific topics. I can sense the passion Staaf put into this book still. She went above and beyond to piece together fun facts, a timeline, glossary, and an intense collection of pictures and diagrams to reflect the people and specimens in Jeanne’s journey.
The Lady and the Octopus is a passion-filled book that highlights a woman’s determination and scientific insight. It is most suited for young readers who crave to learn about Marine Biology through a revolutionary scientist’s lens.
Reviewed by Zoe Y.