Discovery of Microbial Life, Leeuwenhoek, Bacteria, Yeasts, Protozoa, Faeces, Official Wine Taster

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Discovery of Microbial Life

The exact beginning of the knowledge about the existence of microorganisms can be traced back only to the latter part of the seventeenth century when Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1677) first recorded observations of microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and protozoa) seen in water, faeces, teeth scrappings etc. under his own microscopes which were not compound.

Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was basically a cloth maker and tailor by trade, was also a surveyor and the official wine taster of Defft, Holland and his interest in microscopes was probably related to the use of magnifying glasses to examine fabrics. He transmitted his findings in a series of more than two hundred letters to the Royal of London during his lifetime. He described such tiny creatures as "dierkens" or "animalcula viva" which were translated in English as "animalcules" by the Royal Society.

Leeuwenhoek was later elected a fellow of the Royal Society. Although there are reports of works on microorganisms, O.F. Muller gave first classification of bacterial microbes in 1773 and 1788, and coined the terms "Vibrio and "Monas" for certain forms; Ehrenberg established a new genus 'Bacterium' in 1829. Leeuwenhoek's animalcules took two centuries to cause any spurt among the scientists when their importance was realized in different areas of human affairs.

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