Microbiology

Since microorganisms are invisible to the unaided eye, the essential tool in microbiology is the microscope. One of the first to use a microscope to observe microorganisms was Robert Hooke, the English biologist who observed algae and fungi in the 1660s. In the 1670s, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch merchant, constructed a number of simple microscopes and observed details of numerous forms of protozoa, fungi, and bacteria. During the 1700s, microscopes were used to further elaborate on the microbial world, and by the late 1800s, the sophisticated light microscopes had been developed. The electron microscope was developed in the 1940s, thus making the viruses and the smallest bacteria (for example, rickettsiae and chlamydiae) visible.

Microscopes permit extremely small objects to be seen, objects measured in the metric system in micrometers and nanometers. A micrometer (μm) is equivalent to a millionth of a meter, while a nanometer (nm) is a billionth of a meter. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and unicellular algae are normally measured in micrometers, while viruses are commonly measured in nanometers. A typical bacterium such as Escherichia colimeasures about two micrometers in length and about one micrometer in width.