“Gorgeous. . . . Lucid and on occasion surprisingly funny. . . . Roos is to be congratulated on recovering an important episode in the intertwined history of art and science in the early-modern period, the history of scientific-book production and the hidden role of women in the history of science.”

Nature

“The evidence of Lister’s quicksilver mind is appropriately reflected in Roos’s own proclivity for polymathic passion in details offered the reader. . . . But the intriguing core of the book lies in the relationship between Lister and his young daughters, Anna and Susanna, who created more than 1000 exquisite engravings for the Historiae [Conchyliorum]. Roos’s richly illustrated book illuminates the interwoven dynamic of art and science in the 17th century and teases out a hidden piece of the women-in-science story, making it tempting to suggest a transposition of the title to Anna and Susanna Lister and Their Remarkable Father.” 

Science

"Roos elucidates the critical and often neglected function of familial relations in the study of natural history in early modern England."

Isis