Great Book
5 stars
Anna Roos gives a delightful history of the early modern naturalist and scientist Martin Lister and two of his daughters, Anna and Susanna. During the same period as Newton, Hooke, Linnaeus, and Huygens Sir Martin Lister pioneered the study of invertebrates and fossils, becoming the first arachnologist and malacologist. His work and the scientific illustrations by his daughters not only taught others the value of art in scientific study and classification, but also that even the creepy crawly things are worthy of study and things of beauty in themselves.
I very much enjoyed learning about an early modern scientist that is now largely forgotten. I only wish there was more documentation on the Lister sisters lives. Their illustrations are stunning works of art, and the fact that they were creating scientific illustrations in their early teens for the Royal Society is remarkable. If you enjoy the history of science you …
Anna Roos gives a delightful history of the early modern naturalist and scientist Martin Lister and two of his daughters, Anna and Susanna. During the same period as Newton, Hooke, Linnaeus, and Huygens Sir Martin Lister pioneered the study of invertebrates and fossils, becoming the first arachnologist and malacologist. His work and the scientific illustrations by his daughters not only taught others the value of art in scientific study and classification, but also that even the creepy crawly things are worthy of study and things of beauty in themselves.
I very much enjoyed learning about an early modern scientist that is now largely forgotten. I only wish there was more documentation on the Lister sisters lives. Their illustrations are stunning works of art, and the fact that they were creating scientific illustrations in their early teens for the Royal Society is remarkable. If you enjoy the history of science you will probably love this book.