The Microscope Man

Today in 1683, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote to the Royal Society in London to report his discovery of microscopic "animalcules" when he looked at plaque from his own teeth under his homemade microscope:

"I then most always saw, with great wonder, that in the said matter there were many very little living animalcules, very prettily a-moving. The biggest sort. . . had a very strong and swift motion, and shot through the water (or spittle) like a pike does through the water. The second sort. . .oft-times spun round like a top. . . and these were far more in number."

In fact, the Dutchman had discovered bacteria and protozoans by using a more powerful microscope than anyone, up until that point, had been able to construct.

In 1665, the British microscopist Robert Hooke hailed the dawn of a new generation of discoveries which would become possible: "By the help of Microscopes there is nothing so small as to escape our inquiry; hence there is a new visible world discovered to the understanding".

Van Leeuwenhoek also became involved in the debate at the time as to whether life began with the egg or the sperm (it rarely occurred to people at the time that it could derive from both). He came down on the side of the spermists and against the ovists due to observations he made through his microscope:

"having found spermatozoa in the male seminal fluid of animals, birds, fishes and even insects, I assert much more certainly than before that man arises, not for from the egg, but from the spermatozoa in the male semen"

Van Leeuwenhoek left 272 microscopes on his death but most have now disappeared. Since he kept his glass blowing and lens grinding skills secret in his lifetime, his contempories and successors were unable to repeat his discoveries.

From Clare to India: EJ Butler "The Father of Indian Plant Pathology"

Born on this day in 1874, Edwin John Butler had a remarkable career which saw the Irishman traveling the globe and becoming a plant pathologist of international renown.

Butler was born in Kilkee, Co. Clare where his father was the local Magistrate. He studied medicine at Queen’s College Cork (now University College Cork) and graduated in 1898.

In Cork, he came under the influence of Prof. Marcus Hartog who was Professor of Natural History and later Professor of Zoology at the college. Hartog was interested in the mechanics of Saprolegnia, a genus of water-moulds which he collected from ponds including that in the lower grounds of the college (where the Glucksman Gallery now stands). Butler began to use similar techniques to study the neighbouring genus Pythium.

Butler went on to study in Paris and London before being appointed as Imperial Mycologist to India in 1906. His work on aquatic Phycomycetes in India as well as his classical studies on the diseases of palms and sugarcane, on wilt of pigeon peas, on wheat rusts, on downy mildews and much more mean that he is regarded as the “Father of Indian Plant Pathology”. He was responsible for categorising nearly 150 species of plant pathogenic fungi.

In 1918, he published ‘Fungi and Disease in Plants’ on Indian plant diseases. He later adapted this book for a European audience and ‘Plant Pathology’ was published a number of years after his death in collaboration with S.G. Jones. It was the classic plant pathology textbook of its time.

Butler left India in 1921 and took up Directorship of the newly established Imperial Bureau of Mycology at Kew, London where he continued his work and became a distinguished figure in the world of plant pathology; travelling widely and founding a number of new journals.

The plaque awaiting installation at Kilkee Library

The Imperial Bureau of Mycology later formed part of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau which is now known as CABI and celebrated its centenary in 2010.

Butler was Knighted in 1939. In Butler's obituary, EW Mason notes that

"his most striking characteristic was perhaps his immense interest in fungi both as fungi and as the causal organisms of disease in plants, and coupled with this his power of transferring that interest to botanical and lay minds alike. His lifelong habit of wide and deep reading, linked with his accumulated personal experience, enabled him to present problems in their correct perspective and to recommend the line of attack that should best deserve success." (Mason, 1943)

Sir Edwin John Butler died of influenza on April 4th, 1943 in Surrey. He is commemorated by a plaque at Kilkee Library, Co. Clare (which is awaiting installation) as well as the Butler Medal which is awarded by the Society of Irish Plant Pathologists to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field. The Butler Building at University College Cork was built in 2000 and is also named in his honour.

The Plant Collectors - A Communicate Science Podcast

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)

On this day in 1768, Sir Joseph Banks left England aboard the Endeavour under the command of Captain Cook. His journey was to be fraught with danger and only a few members of his team would return. But the success of the journey would be measured in the sheer volume of plants and animals described for the first time. Banks' travels aboard the Endeavour would, in turn, inspire and lead to one of the most famous and ill-fated journeys ever made.

Listen to the full story on our first Communicate Science Podcast.

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Number of the Week
19

The age of Egyptian king Tutankhamun when he died. A team of Egyptian scientists have this week shown that the 'boy-king' probably suffered from a rare genetic disorder called Kohler disease II. The disease would have weakened his bones leaving him too weak to fight off malaria which may have eventually caused his death. The debate is not over yet though. Some scientists still believe that the broken ribs of the mummy may indicate that he may have died after a fall from his chariot.