Material relating to Pontecorvo's Leeuwenhoek Lecture
- Date:
- 6 Dec 1962-25 Jan 1963
- Reference:
- UGC 198/8/3
- Part of:
- Papers of Guido Pellegrino Arrigo Pontecorvo, geneticist, Professor of Genetics, University of Glasgow, Scotland
- Archives and manuscripts
Collection contents
About this work
Description
Material relating to Leeuwenhoek Lecture delivered by Pontecorvo on 6 December 1962.
Publication/Creation
Physical description
Biographical note
The Leeuwenhoek Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society given triennially. It was originally established to recognise excellence in the field of microbiology but now also includes excellence in bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology, and microscopy. The lectureship was named after the Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek FRS (PDF) and is supported by a bequest from George Gabb. The lecture was first given in 1950.
Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology. Using his handcrafted microscopes, he was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms, which he originally referred to as animalcules, and which we now refer to as micro-organisms.