B.Sc 1st semester botany notes on history & development of
microbiology
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF MICROBIOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGIST AND THEIR
CONTRIBUTION (LEEUWENHOUK, LOUIS
PASTEUR, ROBERT KOCH, JOSEPH
LISTER, DMITRI IWANOWSKI, SERGIUS
WINOGRADSKY, AND M.W.BEIJERINCK
AND PAUL EHRLICH)
Ayesha parveen Page 1
, B.Sc 1st semester botany notes on history & development of
microbiology
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
MICROBIOLOGY
microbiology, study of microorganisms, or microbes, a diverse group of
generally minute simple life-forms that
include bacteria, archaea, algae, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. The field is
concerned with the structure, function, and classification of such organisms and
with ways of both exploiting and controlling their activities.
The 17th-century discovery of living forms existing invisible to the naked
eye was a significant milestone in the history of science, for from the 13th
century onward it had been postulated that ―invisible‖ entities were responsible
for decay and disease. The word microbe was coined in the last quarter of the
19th century to describe these organisms, all of which were thought to be
related. As microbiology eventually developed into a specialized science, it was
found that microbes are a very large group of extremely diverse organisms.
Daily life is interwoven inextricably with microorganisms. In addition to
populating both the inner and outer surfaces of the human body, microbes
abound in the soil, in the seas, and in the air. Abundant, although usually
unnoticed, microorganisms provide ample evidence of their presence—
sometimes unfavourably, as when they cause decay of materials or spread
diseases, and sometimes favourably, as when they ferment sugar to wine
and beer, cause bread to rise, flavour cheeses, and produce valued products such
as antibiotics and insulin. Microorganisms are of incalculable value to
Earth‘s ecology, disintegrating animal and plant remains and converting them to
simpler substances that can be recycled in other organisms.
Historical background:
Microbiology essentially began with the development of the microscope.
Although others may have seen microbes before him, it was Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch draper whose hobby was lens grinding and making
microscopes, who was the first to provide proper documentation of his
observations. His descriptions and drawings included protozoans from the guts
of animals and bacteria from teeth scrapings. His records were excellent
because he produced magnifying lenses of exceptional quality. Leeuwenhoek
conveyed his findings in a series of letters to the British Royal Society during
the mid-1670s. Although his observations stimulated much interest, no one
made a serious attempt either to repeat or to extend them. Leeuwenhoek‘s
―animalcules,‖ as he called them, thus remained mere oddities of nature to the
Ayesha parveen Page 2
microbiology
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF MICROBIOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGIST AND THEIR
CONTRIBUTION (LEEUWENHOUK, LOUIS
PASTEUR, ROBERT KOCH, JOSEPH
LISTER, DMITRI IWANOWSKI, SERGIUS
WINOGRADSKY, AND M.W.BEIJERINCK
AND PAUL EHRLICH)
Ayesha parveen Page 1
, B.Sc 1st semester botany notes on history & development of
microbiology
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
MICROBIOLOGY
microbiology, study of microorganisms, or microbes, a diverse group of
generally minute simple life-forms that
include bacteria, archaea, algae, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. The field is
concerned with the structure, function, and classification of such organisms and
with ways of both exploiting and controlling their activities.
The 17th-century discovery of living forms existing invisible to the naked
eye was a significant milestone in the history of science, for from the 13th
century onward it had been postulated that ―invisible‖ entities were responsible
for decay and disease. The word microbe was coined in the last quarter of the
19th century to describe these organisms, all of which were thought to be
related. As microbiology eventually developed into a specialized science, it was
found that microbes are a very large group of extremely diverse organisms.
Daily life is interwoven inextricably with microorganisms. In addition to
populating both the inner and outer surfaces of the human body, microbes
abound in the soil, in the seas, and in the air. Abundant, although usually
unnoticed, microorganisms provide ample evidence of their presence—
sometimes unfavourably, as when they cause decay of materials or spread
diseases, and sometimes favourably, as when they ferment sugar to wine
and beer, cause bread to rise, flavour cheeses, and produce valued products such
as antibiotics and insulin. Microorganisms are of incalculable value to
Earth‘s ecology, disintegrating animal and plant remains and converting them to
simpler substances that can be recycled in other organisms.
Historical background:
Microbiology essentially began with the development of the microscope.
Although others may have seen microbes before him, it was Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch draper whose hobby was lens grinding and making
microscopes, who was the first to provide proper documentation of his
observations. His descriptions and drawings included protozoans from the guts
of animals and bacteria from teeth scrapings. His records were excellent
because he produced magnifying lenses of exceptional quality. Leeuwenhoek
conveyed his findings in a series of letters to the British Royal Society during
the mid-1670s. Although his observations stimulated much interest, no one
made a serious attempt either to repeat or to extend them. Leeuwenhoek‘s
―animalcules,‖ as he called them, thus remained mere oddities of nature to the
Ayesha parveen Page 2
