The Delft School of Microbiology, from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century

• Published in: Advances in Applied Microbiology Vol. 52; pp. 357 - 388
• Main Author: Robertson, Lesley A
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Science & Technology 2003; Academic Press
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics (non-medical); History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; Humans; Microbiology; Microbiology (non-medical); Microbiology - history; Miscellaneous; Molecular biology; Netherlands; Netherlands; Microbiology
• ISBN: 0120026546; 9780120026548
• ISSN: 0065-2164
• DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2164(03)01014-1

Cornelis van Niel was the first to coin the phrase “Delft School of Microbiology.” This chapter examines what was and is the Delft School of Microbiology. To establish any potential scientific credentials of the Delft School, it is necessary to briefly consider the people who were involved in its birth. The history of the Delft School of Microbiology goes back only just over 100 years to the appointment of Martinus Willem Beijerinck as the first professor of microbiology at what was then the Delft Technical College. He discussed the importance of microbiological research in the fundamental and applied sciences and also emphasized the importance of microbiology in education, listing students from the dairy industry, research stations, pharmacy and medicine, and various factories. He also mentioned the people from all over the world who visited Delft to learn and took their new knowledge home to be used there.