Re: Nominate the most beautiful biology experiment ever

Dahd wrote:

> "Lesley Robertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > I would nominate Beijerinck's TMV experiments - people dismissed tobacco
> > mosaic disease as a chemical effect until he came up with the very simple
> > idea of streaking filtrate from damaged leaves onto fresh leaves through
> > several generations, and showing that the effect wasn't diluted out. It
> > seems obvious to us now, but perhaps some of the most beautiful
>
> experiments
>
> > were the ones which look so simple now.
> > I have to declare an interest - I'm the Curator of the Delft Microbiology
> > Archives!
> > Lesley Robertson
> > http://www.beijerinck.bt.tudelft.nl
>
> An interesting exercise is to go to a good library and thumb thru papers in
> J.Hygiene or Lancet dating between about 1912 and 1930.  Many of the
> manuscripts are, in hindsight, amusing.  Quite a few are AMAZING.
>
> There was a lot of very ingenious work done back then that laid the
> foundation for what we know today.
>
> Those of you who teach (I don't) should make your students aware of some of
> the amazing stuff that was done long before we all had computers and digital
> everything in the lab.
>
> And get together with the lit. faculty to make the kids read Arrowsmith.

Yeah, there's an old paper on Lancet describing the 'fowl river demon' 
that corrupts the Thames and how it may be possible to fix it with the 
addition of (a basic chlorine compound that I cant remember). 
Interesting idea that they were thinking of chlorinating the Thames! 
Thankfully, they realised that perhaps it would not be so good for the 
wildlife.