Thursday, 19 March 2026

In the Name of Science - Lori Alexander

 

Lori Alexander is a children's author, known for her non fiction and picture books.  Her non-fiction book "All in a drop:How Antony Van Leeuwenhock Discovered an Invisible World" published in 2019, received several honours.  The eighth chapter of this book, "In the name of Science" highlights the bold and curious spirit of Antony Van Leeuwenhock (1632-1723), a self-taught scientist from Delft in Netherlands.  It also emphasizes how Antony's curiosity helped the world to change its perspectives.

Antony, who is commonly known as 'the father of Microbiology ' was  a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist.  Antony wanted to know how insects were born.  He put two lice into his socks and wore it around his house.  He found ninety eggs that the lice had laid there after six days and found twenty live lice crawling on his leg after ten days.  Thus he proved that lice were not mysteriously formed from dirt.  Then he took the scraps taken from his teeth and examined it in a microscope and found a lot of little animals there.  He called the animalcules diertgens.  Only towards the end of 19th century they got the name microbes.  Thus Antony Van Leeuwenhock's scientific methods and discoveries reflected the spirit of curiosity and innovations during his time.  Actually  in 1677 his observations were fully acknowledged by the Royal society.  Moreover, his persistence and dedication to uncover the microscopic world earned him respect and recognition.


-----Thulasidharan

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