Jeanne Villepreux-Power
Jeanne Villepreux-Power (September 25, 1794 - January 26, 1871) was a French naturalist and zoologist, renowned as a pioneer in the study of marine animals. She is credited with inventing the scientific aquarium, a crucial tool that allowed her to observe and study marine organisms under controlled conditions. She used it to investigate the behavior and reproduction of the nautilus and other species, providing direct observational evidence that some mollusks generate their own shells rather than acquiring them from the environment. Her empirical and methodical approach set a precedent in marine biology and experimental aquatic research.
Quotes
- I have found it better to verify facts, for I have not studied this marine animal and several others by means of imagination, but by experimental observations.
- For ten years, I followed an uninterrupted series, and after repeated attempts, combining and renewing the experiments, I succeeded in obtaining results which led to very useful knowledge, proving that this mollusc is the builder of its shell, clarifying doubts about the first development of its eggs, and taking note of many new facts which relate to its behaviour or habits.
- I never thought of giving up my research, even though I saw that my repeated tests did not lead to any satisfactory results. I armed myself with patience and courage, and it was only after several months that I succeeded in clarifying my doubts, and at the same time I saw my research bearing great fruit.
- Finally my methodology is that of a wise naturalist traveller who, wherever she goes, taking the ordered and shortest route, observes, notices, and collects indiscriminately objects belonging to any class or species of natural history, in order to sort them out at her leisure.
- As I was the first to have the idea of studying marine animals in aquaria or cages, I want to keep my rights as an inventor.