Series Preface
The light of natural philosophy illuminates many subject areas including an understanding that microorganisms represent the foundation stone of our biosphere by
having been the origin of life on Earth. Microbes therefore comprise the basis of our
biological legacy. Comprehending the role of microbes in this world which together
all species must share, studying not only the survival of microorganisms but as well
their involvement in environmental processes, and defining their role in the ecology
of other species does represent for many of us the Mount Everest of science.
Research in this area of biology dates to the original discovery of microorganisms
by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, when in 1675 and 1676 he used a microscope of his
own creation to view what he termed “animalcula,” or the “little animals” which
lived and replicated in environmental samples of rainwater, well water, seawater,
and water from snow melt. van Leeuwenhoek maintained those environmental
samples in his house and observed that the types and relative concentrations of
organisms present in his samples changed and fluctuated with respect to time.
During the intervening centuries, we have expanded our collective knowledge of
these subjects which we now term to be environmental microbiology, but easily still
recognize that many of the individual topics we have come to better understand and
characterize initially were described by van Leeuwenhoek. van Leeuwenhoek was a
draper by profession, and fortunately for us his academic interests as a hobbyist went
far beyond his professional challenges.
It is the goal of this series to present a broadly encompassing perspective
regarding the principles of environmental microbiology and general microbial ecology. I am not sure whether Antonie van Leeuwenhoek could have foreseen where his
discoveries have led, to the diversity of environmental microbiology subjects that we
now study and the wealth of knowledge that we have accumulated. However, just as
I always have enjoyed reading his account of environmental microorganisms, I feel
that he would enjoy our efforts through this series to summarize what we have
learned. I wonder, too, what the microbiologists of still future centuries would think
of our efforts in comparison with those now unimaginable discoveries which they
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The light of natural philosophy illuminates many subject areas including an understanding that microorganisms represent the foundation stone of our biosphere by
having been the origin of life on Earth. Microbes therefore comprise the basis of our
biological legacy. Comprehending the role of microbes in this world which together
all species must share, studying not only the survival of microorganisms but as well
their involvement in environmental processes, and defining their role in the ecology
of other species does represent for many of us the Mount Everest of science.
Research in this area of biology dates to the original discovery of microorganisms
by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, when in 1675 and 1676 he used a microscope of his
own creation to view what he termed “animalcula,” or the “little animals” which
lived and replicated in environmental samples of rainwater, well water, seawater,
and water from snow melt. van Leeuwenhoek maintained those environmental
samples in his house and observed that the types and relative concentrations of
organisms present in his samples changed and fluctuated with respect to time.
During the intervening centuries, we have expanded our collective knowledge of
these subjects which we now term to be environmental microbiology, but easily still
recognize that many of the individual topics we have come to better understand and
characterize initially were described by van Leeuwenhoek. van Leeuwenhoek was a
draper by profession, and fortunately for us his academic interests as a hobbyist went
far beyond his professional challenges.
It is the goal of this series to present a broadly encompassing perspective
regarding the principles of environmental microbiology and general microbial ecology. I am not sure whether Antonie van Leeuwenhoek could have foreseen where his
discoveries have led, to the diversity of environmental microbiology subjects that we
now study and the wealth of knowledge that we have accumulated. However, just as
I always have enjoyed reading his account of environmental microorganisms, I feel
that he would enjoy our efforts through this series to summarize what we have
learned. I wonder, too, what the microbiologists of still future centuries would think
of our efforts in comparison with those now unimaginable discoveries which they
xi