Material relating to Pontecorvo's Leeuwenhoek Lecture

• Reference:GB 248 UGC 198/8/3
• Dates of Creation:6 Dec 1962-25 Jan 1963
• Physical Description:
  1 file, 1 item

• Scope and Content

  Material relating to Leeuwenhoek Lecture delivered by Pontecorvo on 6 December 1962.

• Administrative / Biographical History

  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.

• Related Material

  UGC 198/7/2/51, reprint of the Leeuwenhoek Lecture