The Microbial World And You: Microbes in Our Lives

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic microbiological definitions, historical health practices, key scientists, and the debate between spontaneous generation and biogenesis.

Microorganisms

Organisms that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye.

Germ

Refers to a rapidly growing cell.

Pathogenic

Disease-causing.

Aseptic techniques

Procedures developed from the knowledge of microorganisms to prevent contamination in medicine and in microbiology laboratories.

Spinario (Boy with Thorn)

A 3rd Century B.C Greco-Roman Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a boy withdrawing a thorn from the sole of his foot, located in the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Rome.

Trichinosis

A roundworm infection spread by eating undercooked pork due to a lack of fuel.

Ralph Major

Medical historian who described Moses as "the greatest sanitary engineer that the world has ever seen" in A History of Medicine.

Robert Hooke

Scientist who reported in 1665 that living things were composed of little boxes or cells, marking the beginning of Cell Theory, and wrote Micrographia.

Micrographia

The first illustrated book on microscopy, written by Robert Hooke.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

First person to see bacteria, who made over 400 single lens microscopes between 1673-1723 and observed live microorganisms in teeth scrapings, rain water, and peppercorn infusions.

Animalcules

The term used by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to describe the live microorganisms he observed moving in water, teeth scrapings, and infusions.

Spontaneous generation

The hypothesis that living organisms arise from nonliving matter via a "vital force".

Biogenesis

The alternative hypothesis and theory that living organisms arise from preexisting life.

Francisco Redi

Italian physician who in 1668 became the 1st person to challenge Spontaneous Generation using covered and open jars of decaying meat.

John Needham

Scientist who in 1745 heated nutrient broth, cooled it before placing it in sealed flasks, and observed microbial growth, supporting spontaneous generation.

Lazzaro Spallanzani

Scientist who in 1765 boiled nutrient solutions in flasks for longer periods than Needham and sealed them before heating, resulting in no microbial growth.

Lavoisier

French nobleman (1743–1794) and father of modern chemistry who showed the importance of oxygen to life.

Rudolf Virchow

Scientist who stated in 1858 that cells arise from preexisting cells.

Cell Theory

The principle that all living things are composed of cells and come from preexisting cells.

Louis Pasteur

Scientist who in 1861 demonstrated that microorganisms are present in the air and used S-shaped flasks to keep microbes out while letting air in, resolving the debate over spontaneous generation.