3 Review(s)

The word MICROBIOLOGY describes exactly what the discipline is: the study of small living things. MICRO = small, BIO = living, and LOGY = to study. Microbiology (or specifically, bacteriology) is still a very young science and not yet completely understood. Only about three hundred years have passed since the discovery of the first bacteria. Many estimates suggest that we have studied only about 1% of all the microbes in any given environment1. In the scope of the world, it is obvious to see that the discipline of microbiology is still in its infancy. What is microbiology all about? In their text, Drs. Thomas Brock and Michael Madigan summarize several aspects of microbiology2. Living cells and how they work. Microorganisms, an important class of cells capable of independent existence. Microbial diversity and evolution. What microbes do in the world, in human society, in our bodies, and in the bodies of animals and plants. It is about the central role microbiology plays as a basic biological science and how an understanding of microbiology helps in the understanding of the biology of higher organisms–including humans.