Showing posts with label Bacteria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bacteria. Show all posts

21 March 2015

An unreliable map

Leeuwenhoek observed an astonishing proliferation of tiny animals "incredibly small; nay, so small, in my sight, that I judged that even if 100 of these very wee animals lay stretched out one against another, they could not reach the length of a grain of course sand; and if this be true, then ten hundred thousand of these living creatures could scarce equal the bulk of a course grain of sand."

...We have at best an unreliable map of the land that enchanted Leeuwenhoek. We should rejoice and explore.
from The unseen world: reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) by Nick Lane

Image is a tree of life by Bill Martin, 1998