In the medieval Islamic world[edit]

Avicenna "ibn Sina"

At the golden age of Islamic civilization, some scientists had knowledge about
microorganisms, such as Ibn Sina in his book The Canon of Medicine, Ibn Zuhr (also
known as Avenzoar) who discovered scabies germs[clarification needed], and Al-Razi who spoke of
parasites[clarification needed] in his book The Virtuous Life (al-Hawi).[20]
In 1546, Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transferable
seedlike entities that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact, or vehicle
transmission.[21]
However, early claims about the existence of microorganisms were speculative, and not
based on microscopic observation. Actual observation and discovery of microbes had to
await the invention of the microscope in the 17th century.

Modern[edit]

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, is considered to be the one of the first to observe

microorganisms using a microscope.
In 1676, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who lived most of his life in Delft, Holland, observed
bacteria and other microorganisms using a single-lens microscope of his own design.[1]
While Van Leeuwenhoek is often cited as the first to observe microbes, Robert Hooke made
the first recorded microscopic observation, of the fruiting bodies of moulds, in 1665.[22] It
has, however, been suggested that a Jesuit priest called Athanasius Kircher was the first to
observe micro-organisms. [23]
He was among the first to design magic lanterns for projection purposes, so he must have
been well acquainted with the properties of lenses.[23] One of his books contains a chapter in
Latin, which reads in translation Concerning the wonderful structure of things in nature,
investigated by Microscope. Here, he wrote who would believe that vinegar and milk
abound with an innumerable multitude of worms. He also noted that putrid material is full
of innumerable creeping animalcule. These observations antedate Robert Hookes
Micrographia by nearly 20 years and were published some 29 years before van
Leeuwenhoek saw protozoa and 37 years before he described having seen bacteria.[23]
Joseph Lister was the first person who said infectious diseases are caused by microorganism and was first person who used phenol as disinfectant on the open wounds of
patients.

Innovative laboratory glassware and experimental methods developed by Louis Pasteur and
other biologists contributed to the young field of bacteriology in the late 19th century.
The field of bacteriology (later a subdiscipline of microbiology) was founded in the 19th
century by Ferdinand Cohn, a botanist whose studies on algae and photosynthetic bacteria
led him to describe several bacteria including Bacillus and Beggiatoa. Cohn was also the
first to formulate a scheme for the taxonomic classification of bacteria and discover spores.
[24]
Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch were contemporaries of Cohns and are often considered
to be the father of microbiology[23] and medical microbiology, respectively.[25] Pasteur is
most famous for his series of experiments designed to disprove the then widely held theory
of spontaneous generation, thereby solidifying microbiologys identity as a biological
science.[26] Pasteur also designed methods for food preservation (pasteurization) and
vaccines against several diseases such as anthrax, fowl cholera and rabies.[1] Koch is best
known for his contributions to the germ theory of disease, proving that specific diseases
were caused by specific pathogenic micro-organisms. He developed a series of criteria that
have become known as the Koch's postulates. Koch was one of the first scientists to focus
on the isolation of bacteria in pure culture resulting in his description of several novel
bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis.[1]
While Pasteur and Koch are often considered the founders of microbiology, their work did
not accurately reflect the true diversity of the microbial world because of their exclusive
focus on micro-organisms having direct medical relevance. It was not until the late 19th
century and the work of Martinus Beijerinck and Sergei Winogradsky, the founders of
general microbiology (an older term encompassing aspects of microbial physiology,
diversity and ecology), that the true breadth of microbiology was revealed.[1] Beijerinck
made two major contributions to microbiology: the discovery of viruses and the
development of enrichment culture techniques.[27] While his work on the Tobacco Mosaic
Virus established the basic principles of virology, it was his development of enrichment
culturing that had the most immediate impact on microbiology by allowing for the
cultivation of a wide range of microbes with wildly different physiologies. Winogradsky
was the first to develop the concept of chemolithotrophy and to thereby reveal the essential
role played by micro-organisms in geochemical processes.[28] He was responsible for the

first isolation and description of both nitrifying and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.[1] FrenchCanadian microbiologist Felix d'Herelle co-discovered bacteriophages and was one of the
earliest applied microbiologists.[29]