Overview

Ferdinand Julius Cohn (1828-1898) is recognized as one of the founders of modern bacteriology. He contributed to the creation of this discipline in two important ways. First, he invented a new system for classifying bacteria, which provided microbiologists with a more standardized nomenclature with which to work. Secondly, his drive to understand the life cycles of microorganisms, combined with his research into the effect of heat on bacteria, contributed to the downfall of spontaneous generation arguments. These achievements took place in the context of advances in experimental techniques and laboratory equipment.

In the nineteenth century the terms bacteriology and microbiology were used in often confusing and contradictory ways. For the purpose of this essay, the term bacteriology is limited to mean simply the study of bacteria, although it often refers to their relationship...