The Bluest of Blues: Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs
Anna finds a poppy She wants to keep the poppy forever Father passes her the book She opens it and places the poppy on the pages She closes the cover pressing the flower flat It will dry there between the pages preserved for her to examine later Father claps in delight
The Laboratory When they return home Anna and Father examine the insects He is a scientist and has a laboratory in their home in Tonbridge England Aside from experimenting with electricity and chemicals he is fascinated by entomology the scientific study of insects He has thousands upon thousands of them Clylus arietus Anna gently curls and twists her hand as a tiny spotted beetle skitters around and tickles her fingers Crioceris asparagi Xestobium rufovillosum Staphylinus olens Oedemera nobilis
Cetonia aurata Caratus violaceus Lucanus cervus Father explains that although this insect is small it has dozens of different names around the world In England it is known as a ladybird In America it is a ladybug The French call it a coccinelle The Japanese a tentoumushi But Father tells Anna that the many species of the ladybird family all have one special scientific or Latin name Coccinellidae Trichius fasciatus This naming system was created more than seventy years before in 1735 so that scientists from different countries could discuss their research with less confusion Latin was the language chosen to label every plant and animal in the world Geotropes stercorarius Coccinella septempunctata
