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4. Lab Procedures
This paper was presented for translators at the 40th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, 1999.
Copyright: American Translators Association. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced without the written permission of the American Translators Association. Presented here by permission and slightly modified for this web page.
Denzel L. Dyer
Dyer Scientific and Technical Translations
Abstract: This is a broad, general introduction to the kinds of subject matter treated in microbiology, and to the basic terminology used by US microbiologists.
Microbiology is a relatively new science. Although the application of microbiology to the necessities of life (bread, cheese, beer) is older than history, the science began about 1674 when Antony van Leeuwenhoek made very small but quite powerful magnifying lenses and reported seeing tiny animalcules. Not much more than arguments about spontaneous generation came from that work until about 1850. Then Louis Pasteur, professor of chemistry at Strasbourg, having already been honored for his discovery of optical isomers, was asked to study some problems in brewing and winemaking. Over the next 35 years he studied fermentation; disproved (at least for the time) the theory of spontaneous generation; discovered preservation by pasteurization; produced the basis for Lister´s development of antiseptic surgery; rescued the French silk industry from two bacterial diseases, and developed immunization against anthrax and rabies. Advances have continued in medicine, industry, genetics, and basic microbiology.
Microbiology generally covers:
Microbiology generally relies strongly on chemical laboratory procedures and equipment, biochemical tests, and microscopy.
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