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Selman Waksman, Principles of Soil Microbiology,
1927; and Microbial Antagonisms and Antibiotic Substances,
1945
Selman Waksman extended Vinogradskii’s influence in many
ways. He applied Vinogradskii’s methods in his own research,
participated in Vinogradskii’s expanding scientific network,
assisted in publishing Vinogradskii’s 1949 collected works,
and wrote a laudatory biography of him. In his Principles of Soil
Microbiology--the first comprehensive textbook and general guide
to soil microbiology--Waksman made clear his commitment to Vinogradskii’s
approach and “cycle of life” perspective. Waksman
organized his book by Vinogradskii’s fundamental principle
that soil microbiology must be based, not on the study of isolated
microorganisms, but rather on their activities and role in their
natural environment. Guided by Vinogradskii’s ecological
vision, Waksman synthesized in his nearly nine hundred-page tome
2500 Russian, German, French, and English publications on the
soil sciences. The clear, central message was Vinogradskii’s:
soil microbiologists, first and foremost, needed to investigate
microbial activity ecologically; that is, as a biological process
influenced by the soil’s (or water’s) physical and
chemical properties. The “cycle of life” perspective
guided the research that led him and his student René Dubos
to discover the antibiotic properties of soil microbes. |
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