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The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science
by Catherine McNeur
The untold story of two sisters whose discoveries sped the growth of American science in the nineteenth century
In Mischievous Creatures, historian Catherine McNeur uncovers the lives and work of Margaretta Hare Morris and Elizabeth Carrington Morris, sisters and scientists in early America. Margaretta, an entomologist, was famous among her peers and the public for her research on seventeen-year cicadas and other troublesome insects. Elizabeth, a botanist, was a prolific illustrator and a trusted supplier of specimens to the country's leading experts. Together, their discoveries helped fuel the growth and professionalization of science in antebellum America. But these very developments confined women in science to underpaid and underappreciated roles for generations to follow, erasing the Morris sisters' contributions along the way.
Mischievous Creatures is an indelible portrait of two unsung pioneers, one that places women firmly at the center of the birth of American science.
"With deep insight into the gendered power dynamics that shaped the first half of the 19th century, McNeur serves up an incisive study of institutional bias. It's a vital account."
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A welcome addition to intellectual history that restores two gifted women to the scholarly record."
―Kirkus Reviews
"With detailed research and excellent writing, McNeur has thoughtfully provided a place in history for the sisters that had previously been denied them." —Booklist
"Catherine McNeur's meticulous research and sensitive storytelling are exactly what the Morris sisters deserve. She brings their painstaking and painfully underestimated work on ferns and flies, seaweeds, and cicadas to life—and also offers an illuminating case study of the omissions, misattributions, and erasures that have kept female scientists like them hidden for centuries."
―Janice P. Nimura, New York Times–bestselling author of The Doctors Blackwell
"By excavating the long-forgotten story of the remarkable Morris sisters, McNeur opens a valuable window onto the history of how scientific knowledge is created—and by whom. One will never think of dandelions, cicadas, or science itself the same way after reading this important and beautifully written book."
―Karl Jacoby, author of Shadows at Dawn
"Mischievous Creatures recaptures the fascinating world of two sister scientists in brilliant detail. The Morris's lab was their garden, where their unsung work changed the science of their time."
―Kate Brown, author of Manual for Survival
This information about Mischievous Creatures was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Catherine McNeur is an associate professor of history at Portland State University and the author of Taming Manhattan. She is the recipient of several awards, including the American Society for Environmental History's George Perkins Marsh Prize. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
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