Microbial Musings

In this atypical, engaging history of microbiology, the study of microscopic life, Dr. Bibel ponders the cuture of her profession and reflects philosophically on the social process of its continual development. In these illustrated essays and notes, she humanizes the science, toppling its icon-gods while elevating its Everymen and women, yet rejoices in the very pursuit of knowledge through experiment and ever-present doubt. Sections cover such diverse topics as natural philosophy, education and training, literature, stamps, maps, microorganisms and diseaes, industrial relationships, evolution, taxonomy, marine and extraterrestrial life, microbe hunters and immunologists, and research institutions.