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The Disease and the Cure

The Microscopic World of Bacteria and Antibiotics

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The Antibiotic Paradox
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Abstract

As we go about our everyday activities, we are continually interacting with free-living, single-cell microorganisms invisible to the naked eye. In 1674, a Dutch dry goods merchant, Anton van Leeuwenhoeck, first viewed tiny creatures, “wee animalcules,” moving under his hand-sized, homemade microscope. He reported and described his novel findings in letters and drawings, which he sent in 1676 to the Royal Society of London. His discovery opened our eyes and our minds to the existence of living matter that could not normally be seen by the eye. These microscopic beings made up an exotic, previously unimagined world that shared our environment.

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© 1992 Stuart B. Levy

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Levy, S.B. (1992). The Disease and the Cure. In: The Antibiotic Paradox. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6042-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6042-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44331-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-6042-9

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