Microbe Hunters

"Yes, Paul de Kruif was larger than life in many ways, and this is expressed in his writing. His fruitful relationship with Sinclair Lewis, was a springboard for his later success. When Microbe Hunters first appeared in 1926, The Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed it favourably but with some criticism. ‘Unfortunately, doubtlessly to present the material in a vivid and dramatic manner, the style has taken on an exaggerated quality, which is annoying. Devilish, infernal and hellish are the adjectives most frequently used … These give the book somewhat the quality of the best seller in fiction.’ This critique proved dramatically prophetic: Microbe Hunters has never been out of print and is perhaps the most successful medical science book ever written. Among its fans was the young Albert Sabin, well on the way to becoming a dentist until Microbe Hunters changed his life. Sabin went on to produce a polio vaccine which today is very close to ridding the world of polio. The book begins with Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the pioneer microscopist who first described microorganisms, and the best way to grasp the flavour of de Kruif’s writing is to sample it. Here, van Leeuwenhoek’s daughter watches as he makes his great discovery: ‘What can that dear silly father be up to? He squints through his lens. He mutters guttural words under his breath … Then suddenly the excited voice of Leeuwenhoek! “Come here! Hurry! There are little animals in this rainwater… They swim! They play around! They are a thousand times smaller than any creatures we can see with our eyes alone… Look! See what I have discovered!” Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . In a similar vein, the work of thirteen other giants in the field of microbiology unfolds, as imagined by de Kruif. The scientific facts are correct, (de Kruif was a successful scientist) but the lives and passions of the great pioneers are dramatised in this book, magnified in the telling. The foundations of what would become the science of immunology are revealed in his accounts of Louis Pasteur, Lazzaro Spallanzani and Robert Koch. The book next focuses on discoverers of crucial mechanisms in the immune system and in disease transmission, as well as early treatments and cures. By this time in the early twentieth century, hygiene theory was widely accepted and germ theory well established, so the modern biomedical setting becomes more recognizable. The discovery of antibodies is told through the eyes of Emil von Behring balanced by the story of Élie Metchnikoff, the father of cellular immunology. The final microbe hunter de Kruif brings to life is Paul Ehrlich, whose “magic bullet” against syphilis was the first example of successful chemotherapy. At least one hero took exception to his portrait. Ronald Ross, who discovered malaria transmission by mosquitoes, called the book libellous and strenuously objected to the depiction of his relationship with Battista Grassi, his rival. But that didn’t stop de Kruif’s book from going down in history."

"It’s such a fun book — to the extent that something about searching for microbes can be fun. I got the sense that the author was saying very consciously, “This is awesome and exciting and I’m going to show that!” I just love those types of stories. It’s one of the reasons I like The Ghost Map also: it’s really a story of this small group of people who changed our entire understanding of the world we live in and in pretty dramatic ways and with very dramatic consequences for public health and the development of new medicines. I just find that so exciting and astounding. I don’t know if you’ve ever read a book by James Watson, one of the people who co-discovered DNA, called The Double Helix , but I love that book as well. Here are two guys who “Oh wow! They just discovered the entire key to life that no one else had ever discovered before!” That’s incredible and you get that in Microbe Hunters as well. Totally. I’m not sure I would want to go to dinner with those guys. That’s actually also true of Watson and Crick. I really like unvarnished portraits. I just bristle when I get the feeling that something is being sugar-coated."