Jellyfish Scientist: Maude Delap and Her Mesmerizing Medusas

Off the craggy coast of Ireland in 1899, self-taught scientist Maude Delap captures a jellyfish from her rowboat and embarks on an unprecedented scientific journey.
Like most girls and women in her community, Maude has never attended school. But her intrinsic curiosity ignites an interest in marine life on Valentia, the island where she lives. Jellyfish are difficult to raise in captivity, which makes studying them a challenge, but Maude isn’t deterred. She brings a worthy specimen to her makeshift home laboratory. Over the course of 10 months, the medusa—the term for an adult jellyfish—produces larvae, which become tiny polyps, then transform into pulsing ephyrae, fed and nurtured by Maude until one reaches adulthood (even devouring all the others!). Maude becomes the first person to raise a jellyfish in captivity, studying it throughout a complete life cycle. Detailed backmatter notes that Maude was well respected in the field, despite gender discrimination and her lack of education. Illustrations have a cut-paper feel, lending a cozy depth to each scene with overlapping colors and textures. Calming, muted oceanic hues evoke a foggy Irish coastline. Each unique jellyfish floats in delicate, translucent layers of creamy pink. Maude and her family are light-skinned. The captivating narrative occasionally addresses readers (“Whoa! Did you see that?”), balancing unfamiliar scientific terminology with an easy, conversational tone.
A compellingly told story of a quietly brilliant feminist figure.
—Kirkus Reviews

This captivating picture book biography chronicles the professional dedication of Maude Delap, a scientist in the late nineteenth century. Though unable to obtain a formal education, Delap became a self-taught expert on marine life around her home on the coast of Ireland. Using date headings to organize the narrative like a scientific journal, Cusolito focuses on the three hundred and eighty-three days—from June 21, 1899 to July 8, 1900—during which Delap patiently and carefully studied a group of jellyfish she collected from the sea near her home and became the first person to successfully raise a jellyfish in captivity through its entire life cycle. Rooney’s textured, watercolor illustrations have a transparent quality that is perfect for capturing the sea and its creatures. The scenes portray Delap’s home life, with curious nieces and nephews looking on and assisting while she works in the “Department” (a.k.a. her home lab). Detailed drawings of the various stages of the jellyfish life cycle, as well as of Delap’s painstaking labor in her lab and on the ocean, show the work of scientific study. Extensive notes in the backmatter explain the inspirations and intentions of the book's author and illustrator, as well as additional details about jellyfish and this little-known, but incredibly influential scientist. Beautiful blue endpapers show each of the five stages of the jellyfish life cycle. This is a picture book that will inspire young scientists to explore and observe the natural world around them.
—Children's Literature