The origin of mycology

Abstract

An important concept in the understanding of medical mycology is the causation of infectious fungal diseases. Evans (1991) stated that the knowledge of the causation of any infectious disease depends on both conceptual and technical aspects. The conceptual aspect is concerned with the knowledge of the natural history of the disease and its pathogenesis. The pathogenicity of microorganisms was not widely accepted until the mid-nineteenth century. The main reason for this disbelief was that, up to then, most people believed in spontaneous generation and that new organisms originated from inert material. Even Louis Pasteur was occasionally uncertain if the unintended organisms that occurred in his cultures were due to spontaneous generation. In 1861, Pasteur published his monumental study on spontaneous generation in which he clearly demonstrated that ordinary airborne dust contained microorganisms (Carter, 1991). Thus, the door was opened for the study of microorganisms as etiologic agents of infectious diseases.