The preface and the postscript of "History of Microbiology", with comments from readers

One must live in happiness, and acquire wisdom

Happiness comes from optimism

Wisdom, from the study of history.

[Microbial infection has been the greatest threat to human life since the beginning of our history. How did our knowledge of medicine evolve from the superstition to the recognition of bacteria, virus, vaccine, sterilization, to antibiotics?This book, “History of Microbiology”, compiled the biographies of more than 250 most famous people in human history, who had contributed to our understanding of the medical science. Unlike other history texts, this book introduced the development of medicine by presentation of these pioneers’ biographies in chronological orders, appended with numerous stories of their times to help understand the social and cultural background of those times. The book is availble at www.hochitw.com. 360 pages, NT600=US$20]

Preface

Of the 10 most important medical developments in history, 3 are related to the microbiology.These are: the discovery of microorganisms, the development of vaccination, and the discovery and mass production of penicillin.It is apparent that until the modern era, infectious diseases have been the most important element of medicine.

While reading the biographies of some of those great scientists who made major contributions to the improvement of human health, it occurred to me that if their biographies could be compiled and the historical and cultural background of their time were appended, it would be a very interesting book to medical students or the lay people to look deeper into these pioneers’ lives, and in the meantime, one could understand the history of Europe and America from a different angle.Further, with the recent development in the Internet search and the digital photography, one may collect related information rather easily.Organization is what it takes to finish a book.

This “History of Microbiology” is written in Chinese and the readers will be those with some interest in medicine. However, after inquiring friends who had a preview of the book, they thought there are enough interesting anecdotes to attract readers from non-medical professions. English has become a common language in science, therefore there are many English terminologies.Name of the people are in English so the readers can further search the topics if needed.Some basic knowledge of English pronunciation will help.

Next, the term microbiology here refers to a broad science encompassing immunology, infection control, technologies involved in the study of microbiology and infectious diseases, and antimicrobials.Besides the use of the biographies to illuminate the evolution of the human knowledge, people and events mentioned in the stories, though unrelated to medicine, are explained in some detail, in order to view the broader picture of the time. The author’s opinions and personal experiences are also included occasionally, to reduce the distance between the readers and the author.

This book was organized by first categorizing those who had major contributions to medicine into 7 chapters: 1. Development of germ theory; 2. Discovery of bacteria; 3. Immunology and vaccines; 4. Infection control and anti-sepsis; 5. Technologies in microbiology; 6 Development of antimicrobials; and, 7. History of virology.The scientists were arranged according to the chronological orders, and their biographies or anecdotes were collected from the first 2-3 pages of the google search, mostly from the Wikipedia, Biography, or Nobel Lectures.Basically, it is a work of search, translation and redaction.

The more famous the people are, the more stories there are about them, and the more time was required to do the work. There is a limitation of how detailed the stories could be and how much time could be used to do the search, however. Every kind of history book has its limitations.The most important principle is to include information that are of interest to readers, and the content not to deviate from the fact.What is the interesting information?Whatever description of the scientists’ background, anecdote, and the experience that led to the discoveries, would not only be interesting, but may also stimulate the minds of the readers.

The description of the diseases, such as rabies, syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, AIDS, etc, are quite detailed, and were adopted from the author’s “Handbook of the Communicable Diseases Control”, with updated information.

The content of the biographies from the Internet sources were assumed quite accurate.Wikipedia cited references where needed.The accuracies of the content of this book should be as good as those in Wikipedia.However, some errors are probably unavoidable, and therefore, stories from different sources were compared when necessary. (There was a report in Nature in 2005, the error rate of Wikipedia was in the same level as that in the Encyclopedia Britanica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia).Information regarding Japanese scholars was obtained from the Japanese Wikipedia.

In the scientific papers, all data cited needed to have their origins recorded in the Reference section.In this book, although many materials cited could be referred to a website, however, many information are probably common knowledge in Europe or America.It would be pointless to make notations of all the websites where the information came from, and therefore were omitted, except for those that involved controversies or criticisms.

In contrast to some books, index is quite detailed to make search easier, and is presented in English and in Chinese.

This History of Microbiology is quite different from previous medical history books.1. It uses biographies to present the evolution of medicine.Thus, the readers could understand how the new knowledge developed and the full picture of the pioneers’ lives in more detail. 2. Those people introduced here were not necessarily medical scientists, and medical and non-medical stories are intermingled to make it more colorful and of interest to broader range of readers. 3. As many digital photographs were shown to deepen the impression of the people or events. (Originally near 300 pictures were included, however, they were later drastically reduced due to the publisher’s concern of invasion of the copyright.)

It is hoped that this book could be enjoyed by both medical and non-medical professionals, to see the history of Europe and America from a different perspective and learn the evolution of medical knowledge at the same time.Suggestions from the readers are welcome. Please post them in my blog (google search “clement hsu, md”).

Clement C.S. Hsu, MD, FACP, FIDSA

Postscript

The completion of this book was the result of assistance by many. Mr. Liu CA, his wife Ms. Wu SF, Dr. Ma YL, and my brother Chris Hsu, all helped me with the initial proofreading of the typescript.  Mr. Rong JH, my niece Hsu Tsuey-lin, and attorney Ms Wu Yih-jen helped me in many other ways. Computer expert, Mrs. Ma Chen ML’s tireless work in the design of the typescript layout, revision of figures and printing of initial drafts were more than invaluable. Dr. Chou CI (Miyaguchi Hiroshi), who translated more than a dozen Japanese medical textbooks into Chinese, strongly recommended this book to the Hochi Publishing Company.  I am most grateful to them.  And my wife’s constant encouragement has energized me to finish this book within a year.

  Although attempts were made, I regret that there are many insufficiencies, such as not including important scientists into the main list in the content.

History has shown that only the scientific method can reveal the truth of the nature and result in the understanding of the world we live in. Once the superstition is broken, within 2 hundred years, there has been an explosive expansion of our knowledge that helped improve the health and welfare of our society.  The only powerful force that is responsible for the progress is clearly the basic, instinctive urge for a man/woman to prove that they existed in this world, and that their existence is more visible than others.  This competitiveness between human beings, between he/she and I (or self and not-self), is undoubtedly the key driving force behind the progress of human kind. Why do we have the distinction of self and not-self is so far the most mysterious phenomenon of our existence.

These biographies reveal that great pioneer scientists are able to make major discoveries in many works they are involved in, and that there are important common traits in their personalities.  These hallmarks appear to be the prerequisite in their success. Besides their unflagging enthusiasm, meticulous attitude, and familiarity in the details of their work, they are very observant, highly curious and persistent. They can identify small irregularities and recognize their significance. Further, they are confident in their own observations, not afraid to be different from others, and do not retreat upon hails of criticisms. These characters could be the result of inheritance or the education in their early childhood.

However, opportunities play a very important role in our lives.  Despite the best efforts, there may still be many obstacles that can hinder fine students’ access to an appropriate research environment. In this over-populated society, family obligation may supersede the enthusiasm and talent of a great mind.

There are more than 1.3 billion people on this earth.  The degrees of their “success” vary from one to another, some very prominent, some not. However, there is no need to be envious of others and feel inferior or self-abased.  Some people observe the stars, space and natural phenomena; some study microbes, molecules and atoms.  Some are interested in the history and humanities, and some show their concern to people in their own vicinity.  All of us have our own goal, fields of endeavor, and are working to improve the welfare of fellow human being in some way.  The activities of each one of us drive us to a better life, and are only a very tiny part of the human existence.  We must give successes loud applause.  To those whose activities are limited, we do not ignore the potential of their effort and the future prospect.

The accomplishment in our life is comparable to having half a glass of water.  One may feel sorry that the glass is half empty; and one may also be satisfied that the glass is half full.  Every day, we should live happily, be productive and must make our lives meaningful. What is a meaningful life?  The ethicist Michael Josephson wrote a poem, “Live a life that matters”, that is most enlightening.

Live a life that matters
Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

[Oncologist Prof. 徐龍雄 的comments]

 

Hi, Chris :
Thanks very much for letting me know the final publication of your
brother's book.

As I read the book from your previous mail, I realize that this is a
very important book short of monumental work. I plan to buy three copies : one for myself, one for my younger brother, who is a molecular biologist and virologist and had published a book introducing the history and science of virology to lay public, one for my student whom I feel is destined
for medical research. In fact, as I said before, this book should be
a required reading for all medical students, if I were a dean of medical school. It is interesting and inspiring at the same time.

I was very much touched by the PS section which I haven't read before.  It's essentially a distillation of medical research into metaphysical realm.

It was my happiest day when I spent night and day in the lab of national cancer institute doing research. The achievement of fundamental medical progress are always made by those investigator who dedicated their lives to uncovering the mysterious life process that ultimately leads to medical progress and saving of millions of lives. No, they are not thinking of achieving fame. By merging themselves with the objects of their studies, they ascend into a spiritual level that encourages inspiration that leads to breakthrough. This is the same with literature, art and music. All the Nobel Prize winners were surprised when they got nominated or got the prize. Your brother, Ching Hsiaw, has personally gleamed the essence and the spirituality of the pioneer worker through his extensive research of their biography. For this, Ching Hsiaw has made a very significant contribution to the medical education in Taiwan, if not the whole world (if he publishes his work also in English).

I suggest that he also publish in the form of Ebook, which also can be
downloaded to Ipad or Kindle Fire etc. In ebook format, the web linkage can be clicked and the readers can instantly go the website of reference for further in-depth understanding of material. This is my penny's thought.

Thanks again for the information. Please relay my sincere
appreciation to your brother for his work.
Long

****************************

[這是詹德勝教授(同學)的反應]

 

千呼萬喚始出來! Conguatulations on your book making grand entrance to the world! And on receiving such reader's praise!

I would like to buy three copies of the book and donate them to the Department of Bacteriology at the NTUMC. Two of them will be awarded to two 4th-year medical/dental students who perform best in microbiology, and one to the first-year microbiology graduate student. I understand our alma mater is now using a small-group integrated teaching method, and subjects of microbiology are taught in different "blocks." So, it may be difficult to identify high achievers on the subject in the undergraduate class. I will let the department to set the criteria.

I am writing a greeting card to Prof. 楊照雄, as I do every year, with a letter explaining this, and ask him to transmit my intent to the chairperson.

TS

********************************

[以下是一位三碩士學位的護理背景女士的讀後初部觀感]

許教授

我流覽全書,第一的感覺是:
1.圖文並茂,字體字間的視覺在閱讀上不會有壓力.
2.我故意送一本給同事的高三女兒閱讀,我認為此書可以讓非醫學背景者閱讀起來不會生澀.
3.以前讀李白的詩,但對李白的生活一無所知,只知李白二字,所以讀起詩來空泛無味,相對地此書引起我對病與菌的生活式認識,以及會想再深探它的好奇心,也就是說,此書在可以引發我的注意,卻有不夠深入了解之憾,但您多有交代可追蹤之線索.

4.我喜歡"按"的內容方式,這是您個人的想法或是經驗加以強化該段文的註解,例如若沒有p28您對Bois-Regard的精蟲之評說,我或許只是流覽文字過去了,沒停下來思索此人在當時的毀譽遭遇;另外一則是痲瘋,您提供了您診斷過的二的個案的心情.也就是說,"按"能讓讀者更親近於現實狀況,不會遙不可及的想像.

5. p20 --梅毒段的第二行文字排版:應該是"只有臨床上表現",但排錯成"只臨有床".

以上是我大致流覽之下的直覺感受,細節或內容上的評語,待我細讀後再補上.

我很欣賞您寫書的過程,我覺得這本書是您對自己一生所學的一種整理性回顧,看似是在做您人生的美麗ending.

我希望您能再健康幾年!
祝 平安