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Throwback Thursday: Animalcule
Animalcule [noun]
archaic term for microorganisms, derived from animalculum (little animal) in Latin
Today's word is inspired by the brave new world of 17th-century science. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch draper and self-taught scientist, is credited as the father of microbiology. Leeuwenhoek had an interest in lens making--he wanted to vet the quality of thread, and he made his own microscopes for that purpose, as those of the time were wanting.
Leeuwenhoek examined more than cloth under his microscopes, everything from pond water to his own ejaculate. He is credited as the first to see unicellular organisms, which he called dierken/diertgens/diertjes. In Dutch dier means animal; -ken, -gen, and -je are diminutives. When Henry Oldenburg translated Leeuwenhoek's work into English for the Royal Society, he used the term animalcule. To think of spermatozoa and bacteria as little animals makes sense, as they are mobile.
archaic term for microorganisms, derived from animalculum (little animal) in Latin
Today's word is inspired by the brave new world of 17th-century science. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch draper and self-taught scientist, is credited as the father of microbiology. Leeuwenhoek had an interest in lens making--he wanted to vet the quality of thread, and he made his own microscopes for that purpose, as those of the time were wanting.
Leeuwenhoek examined more than cloth under his microscopes, everything from pond water to his own ejaculate. He is credited as the first to see unicellular organisms, which he called dierken/diertgens/diertjes. In Dutch dier means animal; -ken, -gen, and -je are diminutives. When Henry Oldenburg translated Leeuwenhoek's work into English for the Royal Society, he used the term animalcule. To think of spermatozoa and bacteria as little animals makes sense, as they are mobile.
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"...and I know the scientific names of beings animalculous..." ;))