Microbiology and Immunology

WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Historical Chronology

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1660 Marcello Malpighi publishes his observations

concerning vascular capillary beds and individual

capillaries.

1664 René Descartes (1596–1650), French philosopher

and mathematician, publicizes his idea of reflexive

action. The assertion is included in a French edition

of his posthumously published work on animal phys-

iology. In his analysis Descartes applies his mecha-

nistic philosophy to the analysis of animal behavior;

he first uses the concept of reflex to denote any

involuntary response the body makes when exposed

to a stimulus.

1665 Robert Hooke publishes Micrographia,an account

of observations made with the new instrument

known as the microscope. Hooke presents his draw-

ings of the tiny box-like structures found in cork and

calls these tiny structures “cells.” Although the cells

he observes are not living, the name is retained. He

also describes the streaming juices of live plant cells.

1668 Francesco Redi publishes Experiments on the

Generation of Insects, in which he demonstrates that

maggots develop from eggs laid by flies. His obser-

vations disprove the theory that maggots are sponta-

neously generated from rotting meats.

1669 Jan Swammerdam begins his pioneering work on the

metamorphosis of insects and the anatomy of the

mayfly. Swammerdam suggests that new individuals

were embedded, or preformed, in their predecessors.

Nicolas de Malebranche later reformulates

Swammerdam’s preformationist ideas into a more

sophisticated philosophical doctrine that involves a

series of embryos preexisting within each other like

a nest of boxes.

1674 Antoni van Leeuwenhoek observes “animalcules” in

lake water viewed through a ground glass lens. This

observation of what will eventually be known as bac-

teria represents the start of the formal study of micro-

biology.

1683 Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovers different types

of minute organisms he refers to as “infusoria” in

decomposing matter and stagnant water. He also

describes protozoa and bacteria.

1700 Joseph Pitton de Tournefort presents an early version

of the binomial method of classification, which is

subsequently developed by Carl Linnaeus.

1727 Hales studies plant nutrition and measures water

absorbed by plant roots and released by leaves. He

argues that something in the air (carbon dioxide) is

converted into food, and that light is a necessary ele-

ment of this process.

1735 Carl Linnaeus publishes his Systema Naturae, or The

Three Kingdoms of Nature Systematically Proposed

in Classes, Orders, Genera, and Species,, a method-

ical and hierarchical classification of all living

beings. He develops the binomial nomenclature for

the classification of plants and animals. In this sys-

tem, each type of living being is classified in terms

of genus (denoting the group to which it belongs)

and species (its particular, individual name). His

classification of plants is primarily based on the

characteristics of their reproductive organs.

1740 Abraham Trembley asserts that the fresh water

hydra, or “polyp,” appears to be an animal rather

than a plant. When the hydra is cut into pieces, each

part regenerates a complete new organism. These

experiments raise many philosophical questions

about the “organizing principle” in animals and the

nature of development.

1746 Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis publishes Venus

Physique.Maupertuis criticizes preformationist the-

ories because offspring inherit characteristics of both

parents. He proposes an adaptationist account of

organic design. His theories suggests the existence of

a mechanism for transmitting adaptations.

1748 Nollet describes osmosis.

1754 Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis suggests that

species change over time, rather than remaining fixed.

1757 Albrecht von Haller (1757–1766) publishes the first

volume of his eight-volume Elements of Physiology

of the Human Body, subsequently to become a land-

mark in the history of modern physiology.

1759 Kaspar Friedrich Wolff publishes Theory of

Generation,which argues that generation occurs by

epigenesis (the gradual addition of parts). This book

marks the beginning of modern embryology.

1762 Marcus Anton von Plenciz, Sr. suggests that all infec-

tious diseases are caused by living organisms and that

there is a particular organism for each disease.

1765 Abraham Trembley observes and publishes drawings

of cell division in protozoans and algae.

1765 Lazzaro Spallanzani publishes his Microscopical

Observations.Spallanzani’s experiments refutes the

theory of the spontaneous generation of infusoria.

1772 Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), an English theologian

and chemist, discovers that plants give off oxygen.

1774 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794), a French

chemist, discovers that oxygen is consumed during

respiration.

1779 Jan Ingenhousz (1739–1799), Dutch physician and

plant physiologist, publishes his Experiments upon

Vegetables. He shows that light is necessary for the

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