Rating: 
Summary: Microbe Hunters
Review: Well written history of the earliest researchers and explorers of the microscopic world. The author provides histories that reveial the human side of these early explorers; the science is non technical so the lay person can easily follow in the foot steps of these pioners. DeKruif writes with passion and humor making this an enjoyable and informative read. Although the book was first published more than 50 years ago, it is an excellent and relevant history. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of science.
Rating:
Summary: Microbe Hunters
Review: Well written history of the earliest researchers and explorers of the microscopic world. The author provides histories that reveial the human side of these early explorers; the science is non technical so the lay person can easily follow in the foot steps of these pioners. DeKruif writes with passion and humor making this an enjoyable and informative read. Although the book was first published more than 50 years ago, it is an excellent and relevant history. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of science.
Rating:
Summary: Ripping good stories, better than any fiction
Review: Wonderful book, lively prose, vivid descriptions of the dawn of modern medicine as it was developed in army hospitals, jungles, swamps, and cramped attic "laboratories." And lines like "... the fundemental sadness of Pasteur's life, ....the crown of thorns that madmen wear whose dream it is to change a world in the little seventy years they are allowed to live."Too bad descriptions of blacks as "darkies" (1924) will keep this book out of the hands of some kids. But come on, these scientists risked their lives and very often died trying to cure the sick in Africa. So can we can cut them a little slack for not being as gloriously enlightened as us, even if they were infintely braver ? People familiar with biethics or medicine will see a world where many ethical questions that had not been defined. For instance, informed consent and double blind trials were hardly known - almost *none* of the experimental treatments could be done legally today, even though the researchers often used themselves as subjects and died.
Rating:
Summary: This book makes the history of microbiology a true romance.
Review: Years ago, as a nursing student, I was enthralled by the intrigue created in the history of microbiology by the author. The most famous scientists I had studied about in textbooks suddenly became my heroes, discovering invisible enemies of humanity, and waging all-out wars in their battles to save us. To this day, I feel this book did more in promoting good handwashing techniques than all my nursing instructors ever could. I was thrilled to find the book still accessible through Amazon. It is a "must read" for all healthcare personnel.
| 
