microbiology then to now

  • 384 BCE

    aristotle

    In Aristotelian science, especially in biology, things he saw himself have stood the test of time better than his retelling of the reports of others, which contain error and superstition. He dissected animals but not humans; his ideas on how the human body works have been almost entirely superseded.
  • new age of microbiology

    Advancements in Microbiology Research
  • Francesco Redi

    First scientist to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies
  • Anton van Leeuwenhoek

    Best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology. Also his observation of “little animals”
  • John Needham

    He did experiments with gravy and later, tainted wheat, in containers. This was in order to experiment with spontaneous generation.
  • Lazarro Spallanzani

    Interpreting digestion, a process of chemical solution, and helped disprove the concept of spontaneous generation.
  • Edward Jenner

    An English scientist from Berkeley, Gloucestershire, he was the founder of smallpox vaccine.
  • Theodor Schwann

    development of cell theory, discovered Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, discovered the organic nature of yeast, and invented the term metabolism.
  • Ignaz Semmelweiss

    Introduced hand disinfection standards in obstetrical clinics.
  • John Tyndall

    Famous for the study of diamagnetism. Later he made some discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air.
  • Louis Pasteur (vaccine)

    He inoculated chickens with the attenuated form and demonstrated that the chickens were resistant to the fully virulent strain. Pasteur directed all his experimental work toward the problem of immunization.
  • Joseph Lister

    By applying Louis Pasteur's advances in microbiology, he promoted sterile surgery. He successfully introduced carbolic acid to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds, which led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients
  • Friedrich Schroder, Theodor von Dusch

    Air allowed to enter flask but only after passing through a heated tube or sterile wool
  • Robert Koch

    Founder of modern bacteriology, known for his role in identifying the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax.
  • Ignaz Semmelweis

    Advocated washing hands to stop the spread of disease.
  • Charles Chamberland

    He developed the Chamberland filter, a device that made use of an unglazed porcelain bar.The filter had pores that were smaller than bacteria, thus making it possible to pass a solution containing bacteria through the filter, and having the bacteria completely removed from the solution.
  • Louis Pasteur

    Disproved spontaneous generation
  • Louis Pasteur

    Supported Germ Theory of Disease
  • Joseph Lister

    Practiced antiseptic surgery
  • Christian Gram

    Developed Gram Stain
  • R.J Petri

    Invented the Petri Dish
  • Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky

    Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky was a Russian botanist, the discoverer of viruses and one of the founders of virology.
  • Martinus Willem Beijerinck

    He is considered one of the founders of virology.He published results on the filtration experiments demonstrating that tobacco mosaic disease is caused by an infectious agent smaller than a bacterium.
  • Walter Reed

    Proved mosquitoes carried the yellow fever agent
  • Paul Ehrlich

    Discovered cure for Syphilis
  • Alexander Fleming

    Discovered Penicillin
  • Oswald T. Avery, Colin M. MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty

    The Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment was an experimental demonstration showing that DNA is the substance that causes bacterial transformation.
  • Kary Mullis

    Invented Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • First microbial genomic sequenced published

    First microbial genomic sequenced published