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Chapter 1 A little Microbiology Small living creatures called microorganisms interact in numerous ways with human activities. On the large scale of the biosphere, which consists of all regions of the earth containing life, microorganisms play a primary role in the capture of energy from the sun. Their biological activities also complete critical segments of the cycles of carbon, oxygen，nitrogen，and other elements essential for life. Microbes are also responsible for many human, animal, and plant diseases. In this text we concentrate primarily on mankind’s use of microbes. These versatile biological catalysts have served mankind for millennia. The ancient Greeks credited the god Dionysus with invention of fermentation for wine making, and “theMonument bleu,” which dates from 7000 B.C, shows beer brewing in Babylon. Fermented foods such as cheese, bread，yogurt，and soy have long contributed to mankind’s nutrition. Late in the 19th century, the work of Pasteur and Tyndanl identified microorganisms as the critical, active agents in prior fermentationpractice and initiated the emergence of microbiology as a science. From these beginnings, further work by Buchner, Neuberg, and Weizmann led to processes for production of ethanol，glycerol，and other chemicals in the early 20th century. In the 1940s complementary developments in biochemistry, microbial genetics, and engineering ushered in the era of antibiotics with tremendous relief to mankind’s suffering and mortality. This period marks the birth of biochemical engineering, the engineering of processes using catalysts，feedstocks，and/or sorbents of biological origin. Biotechnology began to change from empirical art topredictive, optimized design. A later generation of fermentation processes produced steroids for birth control and for treatment of arthritis and inflammation. Methods for cultivation of plant and animal cells made possible mass production of vaccines and other useful biological agents. C1early, mankind’s succ