Karen Ottemann, Associate Professor
Environmental Toxicology

Microbe Hunters by Paul De Kruif

I was a first-year microbiology graduate student when I stumbled  across Microbe Hunters in a dusty used book shop.  I was thrilled to find a popular book describing the type of science I had embarked on.  It was inspiring to read of the perseverance of those early  researchers, braving yellow fever and cholera in the name of finding  the causative microbe. The writing style--from the point of view of  the scientist--pulled me into their discoveries and defeats. Although  my own research was cushy compared to culturing anthrax in "the  watery liquid from the eye of an ox", it was exciting to feel part of  such an important scientific field. As De Kruif says, "Microbe hunting has always been a queer humpty-dumpty business", and although I am not sure exactly what he means, that phrase seems to encapsulate  the adventure of microbiology.