Microbe Hunters

By Paul De Kruif

An international bestseller, translated into 18 languages, Paul de Kruif's classic account of the first scientists to see and learn about the microscopic world continues to fascinate audiences.

This is a timeless dramatization of the scientists, bacteriologists, doctors, and medical technicians who discovered the microbes and invented the vaccines to counter them. De Kruif writes about how seemingly simple but really fundamental discoveries of science—for instance, how a microbe was first viewed in a clear drop of rain water, and when, for the first time, Louis Pasteur discovered that a simple vaccine could save a man from the ravages of rabies by attacking the microbes that cause it.

"It manages to delight, and frequently to entrance, old and new readers [and] continues to engage our hearts and minds today with an indescribable brand of affectionate sympathy." –– F. Gonzalez-Crussi, from the Introduction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 28, 2002
• ISBN: 9780547542102

Paul De Kruif

Paul de Kruif (1890-1971), a bacteriologist and pathologist, was a prolific author on the subject of medical science. He lived in Michigan and taught for many years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Reviews for Microbe Hunters

[bnielsen_30 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Indeholder "I. Leeuwenhoek. Den første Mikrobejæger", "II. Spallanzani. Mikrober maa have Forældre", "III. Pasteur. Mikroberne rummer en Fare", "IV. Koch. Dødens Bekæmper", "V. Pasteur. Hundegalskaben", "VI. Roux og Behring. Difteriens Bekæmpelse", "VII. Metchnikoff. De rare Fagocyter", "VIII. Theobald Smith. Mider og Texas Feber", "IX. Tsetsefluens Spor", "X. Ross imod Grassi: Malaria", "XI. Walter Reed. I Videnskabens og Menneskehedens Tjeneste", "XII. Poul Ehrlich. Tryllekuglen"."I. Leeuwenhoek. Den første Mikrobejæger" handler om ???"II. Spallanzani. Mikrober maa have Forældre" handler om ???"III. Pasteur. Mikroberne rummer en Fare" handler om ???"IV. Koch. Dødens Bekæmper" handler om ???"V. Pasteur. Hundegalskaben" handler om ???"VI. Roux og Behring. Difteriens Bekæmpelse" handler om ???"VII. Metchnikoff. De rare Fagocyter" handler om ???"VIII. Theobald Smith. Mider og Texas Feber" handler om ???"IX. Tsetsefluens Spor" handler om ???"X. Ross imod Grassi: Malaria" handler om ???"XI. Walter Reed. I Videnskabens og Menneskehedens Tjeneste" handler om ???"XII. Poul Ehrlich. Tryllekuglen" handler om ??????

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm. I think I finally understand why Carl Sagan and Stephen Jay Gould were so lauded as science popularizers, when they started. This is truly awful. The information was fascinating - the history of the discovery of microbes (germs, and then viruses), what they were, what they did, how to fight them. But it was written as if for grade schoolers at most - lots of auctorial interjections of "Isn't this interesting!" and "Wait till you see what happens next!" (not quite literally, but that tone of 'voice'). In one story, he talks about "the acid of sour milk" five or six times and only once gives it its proper name, lactic acid. He also tried to humanize the microbe hunters - and managed to present all of them, without exception, as idiots in one form or another. Obsessed, random, secretive, publicity-hunting, clinging to nonsensical theories or devising ever-more-complicated experiments and refusing to form _any_ theories...and to the author, whether they got proper recognition was a major point of their stories. He also spends a lot of time, especially on the last few who were working only a few years before he wrote the book in 1926, talking about how their experiments proved X, which wasn't actually useful but "someday a new microbe hunter may find a real answer in this" - which is reasonable, but again the tone rubbed me wrong. Honestly, by the last one, I was sick of the whole lot. And the casual racism, again especially evident in the last few chapters, was quite unpleasant - experiments on "darkies" and their "pickaninnies", "the Jew and the Jap" running experiments... I'm glad I read it, I found the information (when I could extract it from the nonsense) very interesting, I'd like to know more - but I'll never read this book again.

[asperula_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Originally published in 1926, this book contains several short biographies of the men who were the first to create microscopes, use them to identify disease transmitters, and come up with ways to combat them. All of this is done in very homey prose that includes a easy write-off of experiments that were done on humans - what saves mice might murder men, but you have to try. It is a time and place kind of book.

[shirfire218_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Read. Rarely, if ever, have I been so disappointed in a book. After looking over the astounding reviews, I was expecting something superb. This book is extremely offensive on every level, beginning with the literary one and going on from there. It is absolute hogwash and has just about zero literary merit. I also cannot believe the high reviews it consistently gets. It's got to be a childhood thing with nostalgia, etc. In fact, if a young child were a fair reader, he might find some merit in it; but I would not recommend it for a child as the content is offensive to just about every group of people (i.e., racism, prejudice, illogic, the list is endless). Wow, I wonder how those other people could have read the same book I did. The degrading manner in which he referred to various different races should have this book banished forever.

[timberjim · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The classic and immensely popular account of the early explorers of microbiology. The chapter length vignettes of Leeuwenhoek, Spallazani, Redi, Pastuer (who rates two chapters), Koch, and others have a strong narrative based on the remarkable characters who opened the field at a time when both science and the scientific method itself were being shaped. I particularly treasure the excitement that the stories provide and the accounts of both successes and failures. Who has not marveled at the diligence and care of Leeuwenhoek in making his observations, or the battles that Spallazani fought over whether microbes had parents --- dealing with the "theory" of spontaneous generation. I particluarly marvel at the Pastuer whose failures (almost destroying the silk worm industry while trying to save it) are almost as spectacular as his successes, such as the rabies vaccine. My copy of this book is falling apart, likely purchased from the Scholastic Book Service in the mid 60s for 35 or 45 cents, as entertaining and inspiring as when I first read it: science as an exciting hunt for truth and even glory, and scientists, fumbling at times, yet engaged on what was clearly an engaging enterprise. An excellent read.