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The human baby, the human being, is a mosaic of animal and angel.
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1908–74 Polish-born British mathematician and polymath
The human baby, the human being, is a mosaic of animal and angel. The Ascent of Man Lower than the Angels (p. 31) Little, Brown & Co. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 1973
Before refrigeration, when seafood might be kept a few days in a chilly basement, this phenomenon of glowing decay [from bacteria] was observed and noted. Charles Dickens, in A Christmas Carol, likens Marley’s face in the knocker of Scrooge’s door to a glowing lobster: “Marley’s face…had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.” How many nonmicrobiologists have passed over that line, unable to decipher what image Dickens had in mind? A Field Guide to Bacteria Chapter 8 (p. 131) Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York, USA. 2003
Feynman, Richard P.
1918–88
American theoretical physicist
BACKBONELESS Bradley, Jr., John Hodgdon
1898–1962
American geologist
Backboneless marine animals are the creatures of the sea in which they live. Like the sea itself they are sluggish, if not entirely sedentary. Like the rest of us they are products of their environment. Parade of the Living Part I, Chapter V (p. 55) Coward-McCann, Inc. New York, New York, USA. 1930
BACTERIA Cohn, Ferdinand Julius
1828–98
German botanist and bacteriologist
At last, in the most recent times, an unexpected knowledge of the secret life energies of bacteria has been revealed, through which they rule with demoniacal power over the weal and woe, and even over the life and death of man. Bacteria: The Smallest of Living Organisms Lüder. Berlin. 1872
If one could inspect a man under a similar lens-system he would appear as big as Mont Blanc or even as Mt. Chimborazo. But even under these colossal magnifications the smallest bacteria look no larger than the periods and commas of good print; little or nothing can be distinguished of their inner parts, and of them their very existence would have remained unsuspected if it had not been for their countless numbers.
The proteins of bacteria and the proteins of humans are the same. In fact it has recently been found that the protein-making machinery in the bacteria can be given orders from the red cells to produce red cell proteins. So close is life to life. The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist Chapter I (p. 11) Perseus Books. Reading, Massachusetts, USA. 1998
Grassé, Pierre P.
1895–1985
French zoologist
Bacteria, the study of which has formed a great part of the foundation of genetics and molecular biology, are the organisms which, because of their huge numbers, produce the most mutants. This is why they gave rise to an infinite variety of species, called strains, which can be revealed by breeding or tests. Like Erophila verna, bacteria, despite their great production of intraspecific varieties, exhibit a great fidelity to their species. The bacillus Escherichia coli, whose mutants have been studied very carefully, is the best example. The reader will agree that it is surprising, to say the least, to want to prove evolution and to discover i
