Охотники за микробами

by Paul de Kruif, Пол де Крюи, Олег Колесников (Translator)

Эта книга входит в сотню лучших научно-популярных книг всех времен и народов. Она была издана в 1926 году, переведена на все языки мира и до сих пор регулярно переиздается и пользуется огромным успехом у читателей. Критики называют ее «историей научного поиска, которая читается как самый увлекательный роман». Новые и новые поколения читателей открывают для себя историю первых микробиологов, вступивших в борьбу с извечными врагами человечества – болезнетворными микробами.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Biology, Medicine, Biography, Medical

440 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Paul Henry de Kruif was an American microbiologist and author of Dutch descent. Publishing as Paul de Kruif, he is most noted for his 1926 book, Microbe Hunters. This book was not only a bestseller for a lengthy period after publication, it has remained high on lists of recommended reading for science and has been an inspiration for many aspiring physicians and scientists.

He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor's degree (1912) and remained to obtain a Ph.D. (1916). He immediately entered service as a Private in Mexico on the Pancho Villa Expedition and afterwards served as a Lieutenant and a Captain in World War I in France. Because of his service in the Sanitary Corps, he had occasional contacts with leading French biologists of the period.

After returning to the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor, De Kruif briefly worked for the Rockefeller Institute (for Medical Research). He then became a full-time writer.
De Kruif assisted Sinclair Lewis with his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Arrowsmith (1925) by providing the scientific and medical information required by the plot, along with character sketches. Even though Lewis was listed as the sole author, De Kruif's contribution was significant, and he received 25 percent of the royalties. Many believe the characters in the novel represent people known to De Kruif, with Martin Arrowsmith (a physician, unlike de Kruif) possibly representing himself.
Some of his writings created problems for him. Some essays written while working for the Rockefeller Institute led to his dismissal. Ronald Ross, one of the scientists featured in Microbe Hunters, took exception to how he was described, so the British edition deleted that chapter to avoid a libel suit.
De Kruif was a staff writer for the Ladies' Home Journal, Country Gentleman, and the Readers Digest, contributing articles on Science and Medicine. He also served on commissions to promote research into Infantile Paralysis.
The Sweeping Wind, his last book, is his autobiography.

Reviews

[Rick Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is what introduced me to the world of medical research. After reading it in 1963, I decided this is how I wanted to spend my life. The writing is probably dated now, but the way it captured the excitement of research discoveries convinced me to pursue this as a career. I'm almost 61 years old now and retired, but I spent over 35 years of my life pursuing this career and never regretted it.

The book discusses the giants of germ theory and does so in a way that makes these scientists approachable as real men with real emotions. It must have been a groundbreaking book when it first came out in the 1920s. It is amazing how many researches and physicians from my generation read and were impacted by this book.

Why am I reviewing it now? I referred to it in a novel I am writing and realized how important the book was to me. For this reason I read it again. And guess what? I still enjoyed every chapter. THe author made these scientists real and flawed and eccentric without diminishing the impact of their work. The introduction to the newest edition, published in the 1990s, didn't try to bring us completely up-to-date- on microbiology, which would have been impossible. What it did was remind us how important the identification of causative agents and development of treatments for infectious disease remains.

The unique aspect of this book is that it took an honest snapshot of where things stood in 1926. There is language that is demeaning for minorities, but minorities were demeaned then. Wrong headed, but honest. The idea of science as a gradual unravelling of underlying truths is clearly there as is the potential of one negative experiment to bring a logically developed theory to grief. The distinction between a Scientist who tries to discover and one who tries to make discoveries fit a pre determent theory is also well developed. As a lifetime scientist who was first tempted to pursue my career when I read this book, I am glad it can still remind me that I made the right choice.

[Denisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for the 2015 Reading Challenge: #25 A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't.

I’ll put it simple. I love microbiology. It is fascinating how much you can learn from something so little. This book came to me thanks to my fist Microbiology class “General Microbiology” which was my favorite. It is a simple book with all the mayor microbiology discovers, told in a very light and interesting way. This fucking geniuses feel like real people. I swear it will be not just educational for you but also very interesting.



No recuerdo porque jamás lo leí por completo, pero en el momento en que vi ese reto del Challenge me dije que lo leería. Y aquí estoy.

No hay mucho que decir, es la historia de la microbiología contada de forma amena. Lo recomiendo muchísimo sobretodo si estas en alguna clase primeriza de la materia. De verdad te ayudara a recordar situaciones o fechas que un maestro quiere que aprendas y hasta te sacara una que otra risotada.

Cazadores de Microbios es un must para cualquiera con pasión por esa ciencia.

[Michael Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came out in 1926. Amazing it's still in print. My father, born in 1917, read it around age 10 and it inspired him to become a medical doctor He went through medical school during The Great Depression, thanks to the financial support of a doctor-philanthropist. He did his residency at Boston General and literally got a draft notice the day after he completed his time there. He was to spend 4 years in France as a medical officer during WW II, before returning to the States to open his own medical practice.

I did not become an M.D. but did retain an interest in epidemiology that has stayed with me.

On that note, something that's been recently recognized is what is known as Long Covid....

https://www.vox.com/22166236/long-ter...

https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspi...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/doctors-...

[Rocío Prieto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una interesante sinopsis de cómo se inició la investigación de enfermedades infecciosas. Se trata de la historia de la búsqueda del hombre de las causas y tratamientos de las enfermedades, analizando los gigantes cazadores de microbios. Lo hace de una manera en la cual estos microbiólogos son accesibles como hombres reales con emociones reales. Admirarás, temerás y disfrutarás de las aventuras de estos científicos y médicos, a menudo heroicos.

Esta obra de divulgación me llegó gracias a la recomendación de mi profesor de Microbiología en la carrera. Aplaudo el momento en que decidí hacerle caso y leerlo. Es la base para todas las lecturas adicionales sobre microbios, enfermedades, etc., en mi opinión. El lector no necesita tener conocimientos científicos para comprender y apreciar este libro. El libro está dividido en capítulos basados ​​en cada personaje principal. Los logros de cada persona están claramente articulados y vinculados a lo largo del tiempo para que pueda apreciar cómo los científicos modernos siempre están sobre los hombros de los anteriores.

La única pega que le puedo poner a este libro es la presencia de algunos comentarios degradantes hacia las minorías, que reflejan el período de tiempo en que se escribió este libro, publicado en la década de 1920. A pesar de eso, me alegro de haberlo leído. Muy inspirador, de verdad.

Si estás interesado, aunque sea remotamente, en la biología y las enfermedades infecciosas, lo recomiendo. Son como 10 o más pequeñas historias de detectives, en las que los malos son los gérmenes.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off reading this for so long because, really, it looked so boring! I tell you now, in all seriousness, this is the best book about science I have ever read. And, it was written in the 1920s! Seriously, I would actually use the word "swashbuckling" to describe this tale of scientists hunting for microbes. Great characters, good story, excellent writing. Highly recommended!

[Lisa of Troy]

Unannotated Book in F. Scott Fitzgerald's College of One

[Stan Paulsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine, in the 18th century, the first human being on earth to look through his crude, home made microscope at a living microbe. Those that followed him figured out that it was these wee beasties that made us sick and even die by the millions. Late in the 19th century, Louis Pasteur figured out ways to kill bacteria in livestock, wine and beer, and ultimately humans. Imagine comforting a grieving mother hysterical about her baby dying of diphtheria with a cure! Not just comforting words as her baby turned blue and drown with lungs full of liquid. Anthrax, plague, malaria, yellow fever, tuberculosis, cholera and many other disease causing microbes were identified. They were the first to figure out it was mosquitoes and ticks or even just drinking water that passed the microbes along. These early pioneers in microbe hunting, and those that followed, have done more to relieve gratuitous human suffering than any to walk the earth before them. Simply knowing to wash hands, boil drinking water and stay away from mosquito bites improved the human condition immeasurably. I solute them and their tireless, self sacrificing and endless scientific work to discover the workings of the microbe.

[Amelia Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book when I was 16 and later when I was 23. I guess it shaped my life. It is maybe why I work today with the miniature world of microorganisms.

[Samantha Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potential readers need to know right away that this book is close to 100 years old, the ONLY reason this matters is that some of the language and the style of the writing was of its time. Terms for peoples and countries have changed, don't be put off. Despite this I can see why this book remains in print. It is fantastic history story telling long before "Horrible Histories" reinvented the genre. This book is unafraid and indeed revels in the wild characters that populated the microbiology niche. It is not quite a thriller, but does read like a fiction. The characters, their actual process and what techniques needed mastering just to even study microbes is all very clearly explained with great colourful description. The egos, the battles and national politics going alongside are all part of the fantastic breadth of this book. I can't understand why it is not on every school reading list. I've read that many of the great modern virologists and immunologists say this book was the first introduction that really made them curious as school boys and girls.

This book is the primer for all further reading in microbes, disease etc. in my view. Reader need not have any science background to understand and appreciate this book. The book is divided into chapters based on each major character. The achievements of each person are clearly articulated and linked across time so that you get the appreciation of how modern scientists are always standing on shoulders of those before. OR when we forget and don't save history or read history, this too is highlighted when science must start again. So the scientific methodology is clearly supported and explained many times through out. This is again why I think it should be on every school curriculum before students move on to dry, more formal books.

Excellent book, brought to my attention by my father who remembered it from his childhood days. I am embarking in middle life a career shift into science from business, so he thought it was good primer and inspiration. He was utterly correct. Books are always amazing gifts and can prove transformational - this is one of them.

[Chuchiqo · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Me encanto! Es un libro fantástico, con una combinacion perfecta de ciencia, humor y dramatismo. Además, presenta un leguaje entendible pero sin dejar de lado ciertos términos pertenecientes al lenguaje científico, por lo tanto, no hay una gran dificultad en su lectura.
Es un magnífico libro, te hace sentir emocionado al conocer los triunfos, las derrotas y la vida de los cazadores de microbios en su intento por resguardar a la humanidad de los minúsculos peligros a los que nos enfrentamos; inspira a querer tomar un microscopio y salir en la caza de los pequeñisimos seres que han asombrado al mundo.

[Genaro Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este viaje por el compendio histórico de la microbiología y de algunos de sus más grandes impulsores ha sido uno de las mejores aventuras lectoras en las que me he zambullido. Así mismo uno de los textos más didácticos a la hora de entender esa transición de un conocimiento que hoy en día incluso resulta obvio (por ejemplo al hablar de la existencia de los microbios y que pueden ser causantes de enfermedades mortales) y de la vida de aquellos que hoy en día podemos reconocer como grandes "cazadores de microbios".

[Gintas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Įtaigiai ir įdomiai papasakota mikroorganizmų atradimo istorija.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read but misleading title! (All hunters appear at average size in the book)

[Gina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambleside Online book for years 9 & 10. Engaging and informative narrative about the history of the discovery of microbes and how they relate to illness. This book is almost 100 years old and the author’s prejudices popped out a few times near the end of the book. I’m sure all the stories are much more nuanced than could be covered in this overview but it was certainly fascinating.

[Josh Friedlander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the discovery of the microscopic world, and the way it transformed medicine in a time before DNA. De Kruif, if not exactly fictionalising his subjects, interpolates a lot about their inner state, leading to a sort of comic-book style prose: their despair, their fixation, their enthusiasm are all spelled out, giving the book a breathless energy.

Another observation is that de Kruif consistently uses the term "microbe hunters", avoiding technical terms of art. The cranky and obsessive Leeuwenhoek finds the little microbes, Spallanzani shows that they reproduce, Pasteur shows that some cause fermentation, the country doctor Koch proves that some cause disease, Metchnikoff discovers the immune system, and various disease vectors are discovered, culminating in Ehrlich's discovery of the "magic bullet" which targets syphilis (and also the idea of dying bacteria to track them, ie Gram staining). I think this is a really effective approach to science writing. It reminds me of Shklovsky's idea of приём отстранения, defamiliarisation. So many ragged bits of scientific knowledge have come to us via media portrayals and half-remembered high school classes that the public has become inoculated to actual understanding of what is going on: exposure to a totally unknown form of the idea can overwhelm the mental defenses and actually provoke an aha! response.

This is, of course, an old-fashioned and uncomplicated glorification of science and the heroes who move it forward. It inspired the Nobel laureate Aaron Klug (along with surely countless others) to study microbiology. Of course, it is easier today to be cynical about the way that scientific paradigms actually change, the openness of the establishment to new ideas, the ways that new discoveries are determined by conservative bureaucrats and egotistical PIs, and the ways that "miracle cures" tend to give way decades later to unanticipated second-order effects. But it's good to be reminded of the idealism, and the speed with which we've gone from Leeuwenhoek's primitive microscope to eradicating entire diseases.

(Contemporary readers will notice a lot of dated terms like "blacky" and "pickaninny" and "jap". It's also worth noting that this book contains a lot of descriptions of animal experimentation: if you're sensitive to that, you might want to avoid it.)

[Steffa De la Rosa Jaramillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Está novela la tenía pendiente, como microbióloga era una cosa imperdonable no leerla, y solo tengo que decir que la lectura fue fascinante y rápida. Como una brisa en un día caluroso.

Está novela de Paul de Kruif nos narra la vida de los científicos que fueron fundamentales para el desarrollo de la microbiología. Por lo que comenzó con el primer cazador de microbios: Leeuwenhoek, un hombre terco pero decidido. Sin sus lentes no existirían los otros cazadores.
Los lentes de Leeuwenhoek nos permitió tener nuestros microscopios, dónde a diario vemos minúsculos organismos que cada día nos enseñan este glorioso mundo. Las vidas de estos cazadores estuvieron llenas de aventuras, de intentos fallidos, de errores y falsas esperanza. Mostrándonos que el camino de la ciencia en la sociedad es de los más osados, dónde algunos perecieron víctimas de los microorganismos patógenos que asiduamente estudiaron; demostrando que la suerte fue fundamental para los descubrimientos trascendentales. Reafirmando que en el campo de la investigación el azar solo favorece a los espíritus preparados.
Seguimos la historia con Spallanzani (demostrando que la generación espontánea de los animalillos estaba equivocada); Louis Pasteur con sus increíbles experimentos (quien nos hizo ver que los microorganismos eran una amenaza, el perro rabioso y el virus de la Rabia y su vacuna), Robert Koch con su medio de cultivo con gelatina y exhibiendo a Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Roux y Bering y su pelea contra el microbio de la difteria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae); Metchnikoff y los fagocitos; Theobald Smith y su descubrimiento del primer vector reportado: las garrapatas, que causaba la fiebre de Texas por Babesia bigemina, que mataba miles de ganado; David Bruce con Brucella melitensis y la mosca Tsetse que transmitía Trypanosoma brucei, que causaba la enfermedad del sueño; Ross y Grassi con el paludismo; Walter Reed y la fiebre Amarilla y terminamos en Paul Ehrlich y su bala mágica, el preparado 606 que fue el resultado de la síntesis química más sutil.
¡Por siete años de percances tuve un instante de buena suerte!

[María Greene F · Rating 3 out of 5]

SÚPER BUENO y SÚPER ÁGIL, tanto que me impresionó mucho cuando me di cuenta de que fue escrito en 1926, hace literal casi un siglo, no porque antes la gente se expresara peor sino que porque les gustaba hacerlo de la forma más recargada posible y aquí esto no pasa: Bien escrito, elocuente, detallado pero no latero, lleno de humanidad, y en muchas ocasiones hasta me hizo reír. Muy, muy entretenido. Muy fácil de leer.

SIN EMBARGO, no puedo personalmente con tanta descripción de pobre animalito cercenado y torturado en nombre de la ciencia. Sé que fue ha sido parte del camino y etcétera, pero la poca deferencia, la poca compasión, la poca empatía que se le concede en general a cualquiera de ellos... se me hunde el corazón. Tanto así que no lo pude terminar, llegué hasta como un tercio.

Aún así lo recomiendo. Hacen falta buenos libros de ciencia.


Una única cita que destaqué:

1. Hablando de el primero de los científicos (son muchos, un capítulo por cada quien).

¿Perdió la cabeza con tantos honores? De ninguna manera porque, para empezar, ya se tenía en muy alta estima. Su soberbia no tenía límites, como tampoco su humildad ante el misterio ignoro que lo rodeaba a él y a todos los hombres.

Admiraba al Dios de su patria, pero su verdadero Dios era la verdad. He aquí su profesión de fe "Estoy decidido a no aferrarme tenazmente a mis ideas, abandonándolas tan pronto como encuentre razones pausibles para hacerlo. Tan cierto es esto como que mi único propósito, y en la medida de mis fuerzas, es poner la verdad frente a mis ojos y emplear el poco talento que me fue concedido en apartar al mundo de sus viejas supersticiones paganas, caminando la verdad sin abandonarla jamás".

[Diana Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se trata de una dramatización de un poco de la historia de la microbiología por un lado y la historia de las enfermedades infecciosas por el otro. En este trabajo podremos ver la carrera y el carácter de los científicos cuyos avances fueron enormemente significativos para la salud humana. Esta redactado de una manera trepidante, es imposible soltar el libro.

[kezzie ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

✩ 3.75 stars
~
[read for high school ‘freshmen & sophomore years’ biology class]

[Tirzah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most fascinating science book I’ve ever read! Love it!

[Luis Zarza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sin ninguna duda es mi libro favorito de historias de científicos, me encanta como describe cada uno de los errores y aciertos de los primeros experimentos microbiologicos. 100/10 Lo recomiendo

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really engaging read about the people who pioneered the field of microbiology. I particularly enjoyed the first part, about Leeuwenhoek, the section on Koch, and the section about Theobold Smith. Now I know about for whom Walter Reed hospital was named and why. It was eye opening to read about the vast numbers of guinea pigs and other animals (and the human cases—those brave souls in Cuba) that met miserable fates in the name of science. There are some demeaning comments towards minorities, reflecting the time period when this book was written. Despite that, I’m glad I read it. Quite inspiring, really.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1926, this is a classic collection of essays about the pioneers of microbiology. Beginning with Leeuwenhoek, with chapters on Pasteur (x2), Koch, through Bruce, Walter Reed and Paul Ehrlich, the essays span the time period from 1650 to 1910.

De Kruif writes with an infectious enthusiasm and a strong narrative drive, so that the essays hold up remarkably well - one is swept up in the story. What is particularly impressive is his ability to set each researcher's accomplishments squarely within the context of what was known at the time.

Warning: sometimes the language is archaic (Paul Ehrlich is described repeatedly as a 'gay man'), sometimes it goes way over the threshold of political correctness ('darky assistants'). However, retrospective application of current norms of political correctness would be both unfair and pointless. Best to make allowances for the time at which these essays were written, find a comfortable chair and lose oneself in the excitement of the stories of these extraordinary scientists.

[Omar Melchor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro super interesante, genial, nos narra cultura científica de una manera sumamente digerible, enseña los logros de hombres que quizá sin saberlo aportaron grandes conocimientos a la humanidad, que directa o indirectamente han salvado millones de vidas humanas y animales, ya sea por su necesidad insaciable de conocimiento o por simple fortuna, nos muestra la vida de un héroe de la humanidad, el francés Pasteur y también como no siempre es en los laboratorios donde estan los grandes descubrimientos y que el conocimiento puede estar en un médico rural o incluso en el simple campesino o ganadero, si no me creen, lean la historia de Teobalth Smith, es por ello que nunca hay que discriminar a nadie

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

FINALLY worked my way through this one! Not sure why I got so bogged down towards the end. Maybe it had something to do with all the action moving to Africa and the very of-the-times but still awkward for a modern person to read racism kicked in? Nothing outright awful just terminology and tone, but still weird for me. Mostly though it was interesting to read about microbiology in the days before DNA discovery, which now plays such a huge role in ALL biology. And impressive how much work they could do with viruses without being able to see them.

[Matt Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account written in the 1920s prose in which the whole world is filled with wonder and a frank account of the harsher realities. I love how lots of people gladly volunteered their lives in a gamble for a cure; not sure a) nanny government would LET you and b) if perfectly healthy people would subject themselves to same torment.

I also enjoyed seeing the retelling, if to be believed, of these peoples' lives -- such strong personalities.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me dejaron leerla en la escuela y no lo hice. La leí cuando comencé a dar clases y me di cuenta del error que había cometido de joven, pues es un súper libro muy entretenido. Tiene una narrativa que te lleva de la mano y hace que te sientas en los diferentes escenarios (mayormente europeos) donde se desarrolló la Microbiología, un librazo!!!

[kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo leí durante varias noches antes de dormir. Lo disfruté muchísimo.

[Tamim Mostafa · Rating 5 out of 5]

You would be amazed to know that the first man to invent microscope and discover the existence of microbes was actually illiterate, and could not read! His name was Antony Leeuwenhoek, also known as the “Father of Microbiology”, a self-taught Dutchman who was blessed by his ignorance. During the seventeenth century, at a time when superstitions reigned supreme and science was making baby steps, Leeuwenhoek relied solely on his natural instincts and ingenuity to teach himself how to make a microscope and then went on to discover strange little shapes moving around inside a droplet of water, which was marked as the first discovery of the existence of the microbes.

The book “Microbe Hunters” starts with an opening chapter on Leeuwenhoek. This fascinating book was written by Paul de Kruif, and it was published in 1926, almost 100 years back. After the first chapter, the book goes on to describe romanticized accounts of early scientists and researchers of microscopic creatures (i.e. Spallanzani, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Walter Reed, Paul Ehrlich, Ronald Ross, Theobald Smith and so on) who discovered the causes and the cure of viruses and bacteria that induced deadly diseases like anthrax, cholera, malaria, smallpox, rabies, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, typhoid, and syphilis.

The book is written in a breathless style, doing justice to the astonishing tales, methods of the early researchers which involved a lot of trial and error, failures, and accidental discoveries. However, the one attribute which was common amongst all these eccentric scientists was perseverance.

Go ahead and read the book if you find the topic interesting, it certainly won’t disappoint you!

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author is so enthusiastic about his subject! It was a delight at first to read his enthusiasm! However, the style wore on me till I really disliked it. Stop being so enthusiastic and get to the point. Then I started to notice and be irritated by out of date language that was belittling such as “darkies” for Blacks. Finally, I wondered about a statement and realized there were no footnotes to check any statements made by the author. So while I suspect the enthusiasm is what keeps this book still being read, I question the value of it. The author has strong opinions about many of his microbe hunters but are they valid opinions? I do think we need more books written with intensity and enthusiasm for our youth to learn about STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) or STEAM (add art to prior list) but we also need books that are accurate and footnoted for the exceptional student who wants to doublecheck the information or the doubtful adult who wants to make sure their child is learning from quality material. This is a good book, if you can plow through all the offshoots of enthusiasm that end up being rather scatterbrained. I really cannot recommend this title.