BIOL-2026EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, Micrographia, Microorganism
4 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Saw the first cell and first microbe. Was making microscopes that weren"t good enough to see microbes. Published the first major article in the royal society: called micrographia, coined the term cell . Was all observed in tree bark and insects: wrote about the first description of any microorganism, observed and drew fruiting bodies of fungi. Was good at blowing glass and good at making lenses. Published many articles about seeing things using microscopes. Wrote letter to royal society talking about microbes. Saw first bacterial cells with simple scopes with one lens: scraped plaque off his teeth and observed them. Many microorganisms are useful in digestion, and many are harmful like smallpox. Our understanding of life has arisen from studies of microorganisms: biochem and genetics. Most biochem pathways that we know of are from the study of microbes. Genetics are easy to observe in bacteria vs humans: evolutionary biology. Can compare the evolution of animals over time ie; genetics.
