If we look to the past for women in science whose accomplishments have not always been properly appreciated, one person who stands out as a prime example is Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717). The youngest daughter of the renowned printmaker-publisher Matthäus Merian the Elder, she received early artistic training, lived at various times of her life in centers of printmaking—Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, and Amsterdam—and became in her lifetime one of the most important observers of the natural world. Keenly interested in the insects and plants around her, she was the first naturalist to combine a solid scientific investigation of the natural world with true artistic ability. The intaglio prints she made after her detailed drawings are unsurpassed in their beauty, but it is the combination of her art with her observational skill that sets her apart.

Merian's fame rests on three highly illustrated works she published in her lifetime: a three-volume work on flowers (1675–80), a two-volume work on caterpillars (1679–83), and a volume on the metamorphosis of Surinamese insects (1705). Whereas naturalists before and long after her illustrated insects in isolation, Merian became a forerunner of ecological studies by giving careful life-size depictions of insects in their natural environments, so that people could see them along with the plants that were essential for their growth and survival. In addition, she focused not on one isolated moment in an insect's life but on every stage of its development. Her original drawings and their reproductions in the early volumes are so accurate that they were used, decades later, by Carl Linneaus for some of his own taxonomic work. As accurate as Merian's work was scientifically, her original drawings of the insects of Surinam caused problems for the engravers who had the task of drawing them on copper. By failing to grasp the important artistic layout of the original drawings, they produced inferior reproductions.

One of Carin Grabowski's goals in this book is to clarify the unfortunate discrepancy between Merian's detailed artistic drawings and the resulting engravings made by commissioned printmakers. To recognize this one needs to see the originals, many of which were purchased after Merian's death by Peter the Great and are now held in the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Having studied biology and art history (with a dissertation on Merian), Grabowski is well qualified to undertake such an investigation of the artist's work. She begins by placing Merian within her cultural and historical context and then discusses in detail the chronology of her work. In her prime, Merian did her own engraving, but in some cases engravings previously attributed to her are now shown to be actually the work of her talented daughters, after drawings made by their mother. Whereas these engravings accurately reflect Merian's artistic goal, those by commissioned printmakers later in her life misrepresent her true intentions as an artist.

The major portion of Grabowski's book is a catalogue of 124 drawings by Merian, with a full-page color reproduction on the left-hand page facing a detailed description on the opposite page. For those who do not read German it is still worthwhile to study the drawings, which are accurately drawn and beautifully colored. These illustrations reveal Merian at the height of her ability as an artist and observer of the natural world. It is unfortunate that cheap reprints led to her work being ignored by the scientific community, but more-recent facsimiles have led to a renewed appreciation of Merian as both an artist and a pioneering entomologist. Grabowski's work will help to solidify the reputation of this unique woman, who combined in-depth scientific investigation with artistic talent and who rightfully deserves more attention.