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Post subject: aquarium history
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:03 pm
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A Mighty GirlLiked
September 24, 2015 ·
Today in Mighty Girl history, pioneering French marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power, who famously invented the aquarium, was born in 1794. The daughter of a shoemaker, Villepreux-Power began her adulthood as a dressmaker’s assistant and, through self-taught study and research, became a renowned naturalist known as the "Mother of Aquariophily."

While working as a dressmaker in Paris, Villepreux-Power first gained prominence after she made the wedding gown for Princess Caroline. This also led her to meeting English merchant James Power, who she married in 1818 in Sicily. They lived on the island for over twenty years and it was there that Villepreux-Power undertook a rigorous study of its flora and fauna with a particular interest in the marine ecology.

In 1832, she began to study the paper nautilus or Argonauta argo. The prominent opinion at the time was that the nautilus took its shell from another organism. In order to test whether this was true, Villepreux-Power invented the first glass aquarium, which allowed her to study nautilus in a controlled environment. As a result, she discovered that the nautilus created its own shell. As she continued her research, Villepreux-Power also designed two aquarium variants, a glass apparatus within a cage, used for shallow-water studies, and another cage-like aquarium which scientists could raise and lower to different depths as needed.

In 1839, Villepreux-Power published “Physical Observations and Experiments on Several Marine and Terrestrial Animals”, her major work discussing the nautilus and other sea creatures she had studied. Increasingly renowned for her pioneering research, Villepreux-Power became the first female member of the Catania Accademia, as well as a member of over a dozen other scientific academies. In recent years, this trailblazing scientist and inventor was further recognized -- a major crater on Venus discovered by the Magellan probe was named in her honor in 1997.

If your Mighty Girl is fascinated by the natural world or you'd like to encourage her interest, check out our blog post, "Mighty Careers: I Want To Be A Wildlife Biologist!", filled with our recommendations for girl-empowering books, toys, and clothing at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=6004

To introduce your children to a trailblazing modern day marine biologist, there is a lovely picture book about Sylvia Earle for ages 4 to 8, "Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle" at http://www.amightygirl.com/life-in-the-ocean

To spark your Mighty Girl's interest in learning about science in a hands-on way, visit our "Hands-On Science Kits" section for lots of fun science kids for children and teens at http://www.amightygirl.com/toys/toys-games/science-math

And, if your Mighty Girl loves to show off her love of science, visit our science-themed t-shirt section at http://www.amightygirl.com/clothing?clothing_themes=146

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