Microbiology 

(from Greek μῑκρος, mīkros, "small"; βίος, bios, "life"; and -λογία, -logia) is the study

of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms.[1] This includes eukaryotes
such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes. Viruses[2] and prions, though not strictly classed as living
organisms, are also studied. In short; microbiology refers to the study of life and organisms that are too
small to be seen with the naked eye. Microbiology typically includes the study of the immune system,
or Immunology. Generally, immune systems interact with pathogenic microbes; these two disciplines
often intersect which is why many colleges offer a paired degree such as "Microbiology and Immunology".

Microbiology is a broad term which includes virology, mycology, parasitology, bacteriology and other

branches. A microbiologist is a specialist in microbiology and these other topics.

Microbiology is researched actively, and the field is advancing continually. It is estimated only about one
percent of all of the microbe species on Earth have been studied.[3] Although microbes were directly
observed over three hundred years ago, the field of microbiology can be said to be in its infancy relative
to older biological disciplines such as zoology and botany.
Louis Pasteur (pronounced: [pastœʁ] December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was
a French chemist and microbiologist born inDole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in
the causes and preventions of disease. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he
created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease.
He was best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing
sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main
founders of microbiology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. Pasteur also made many
discoveries in the field of chemistry, most notably the molecular basis for the asymmetry of
certaincrystals.[2] His body lies beneath the Institute Pasteur in Paris in a spectacular vault covered in
depictions of his accomplishments inByzantine mosaics.[3]

Cohn was born in Breslau in the Prussian Province of Silesia. At the age of 10 he suffered hearing
impairment. He received a degree in botany in 1847 at the age of nineteen at the University of Berlin. He
was a teacher and researcher at University of Breslau for his entire career. In the 1850s he mostly studied
algae. In the 1860s he studied plant physiology in several different aspects. From 1870 onward he mostly
studied bacteria. He published over 150 research reports during his lifetime. The University of Breslau
became an innovative center for plant physiology and microbiology while he was there.

Cohn was the first to classify algae as plants, and to define what distinguishes them from green plants.
His classification of bacteria into four groups based on shape (sphericals, short rods, threads, and spirals)
is still used today. Among other things Cohn is remembered today for being the first to show (1876)
that Bacillus can change from a vegetative state to an endospore state when subjected to an environment
deleterious to the vegetative state.

Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was born in Clausthal, Germany as the son of a mining official. He
studied medicine under Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle at the University of Göttingen and graduated in
1866. He then served in the Franco-Prussian War and later became district medical officer, Wollstein
(Wolsztyn), Prussian Poland. Working with very limited resources, he became one of the founders
ofbacteriology, the other major figure being Louis Pasteur.

After Casimir Davaine showed the direct transmission of the anthrax bacillus between cows, Koch studied
anthrax more closely. He invented methods to purify the bacillus from blood samples and grow pure
cultures. He found that, while it could not survive outside a host for long, anthrax built
persisting endospores that could last a long time.

These endospores, embedded in soil, were the cause of unexplained "spontaneous" outbreaks of

anthrax. Koch published his findings in 1876,[1] and was rewarded with a job at the Imperial Health Office
in Berlin in 1880. In 1881, he urged the sterilization of surgical instruments using heat.

Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August, 1881 – 11 March, 1955) was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist.

He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy. His best-known discoveries are
the discovery of the enzyme lysozymein 1923 and the antibiotic substance penicillin from the
mold Penicillium notatum in 1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945
with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain.[1]

In 1999, Time Magazine named Fleming one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century for his
discovery of penicillin, and stated; "It was a discovery that would change the course of history. The active
ingredient in that mould, which Fleming named penicillin, turned out to be an infection-fighting agent of
enormous potency. When it was finally recognised for what it was, the most efficacious life-saving drug in
the world, penicillin would alter forever the treatment of bacterial infections. By the middle of the century,
Fleming's discovery had spawned a huge pharmaceutical industry, churning out synthetic penicillins that
would conquer some of mankind's most ancient scourges, including syphilis,  gangrene  and tuberculosis".
[2

Edward Jenner was born on 17 May 1749 (6 May Old Style) in Berkeley. Jenner then trained in Chipping
Sodbury, South Gloucestershire as an apprentice to Daniel Ludlow, a surgeon, for eight years from the
age of 14. In 1770 Jenner went up to surgery and anatomy under thesurgeon John Hunter and others
at St George's Hospital.

William Osler records that Jenner was a student to whom Hunter repeated William Harvey's advice, very
famous in medical circles (and characteristically Enlightenment), "Don't think, try".[4] Jenner therefore was
early noticed by men famous for advancing the practice and institutions of surgery. Hunter remained in
correspondence with him over natural history and proposed him for the Royal Society. Returning to his
native countryside by 1773 he became a successful general practitioner and surgeon, practising in
purpose-built premises at Berkeley.
Edward Anthony Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English scientist who studied his
natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Jenner is widely credited as the pioneer of smallpox
vaccine, and is sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Immunology'. Jenner's discovery 'has saved more
lives than the work of any other man

Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (in Dutch also Anthonie, Antoni, or Theunis, in English, Antony or

Anton[1]; English pronunciation: /ˈleɪvənhʊk/, Dutch: [ˈleːʋənˌhuːk]; October 24, 1632 – August 26, 1723) was
a Dutch tradesman and scientist fromDelft, Netherlands. He is commonly known as "the Father of
Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the
improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment ofmicrobiology. Using
his handcrafted microscopes he was the first to observe and describe single celled organisms, which he
originally referred to as animalcules, and which we now refer to as microorganisms. He was also the first
to record microscopic observations of muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa and blood flow
in capillaries (small blood vessels). Van Leeuwenhoek did not author any books, although he did write
many letters.