Paul Henry de Kruif (, rhyming with "life") (1890–1971) was an American

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of Dutch descent. Publishing as Paul de Kruif, he is most noted for his 1926 book, ''Microbe Hunters''. This book was not only a bestseller for a lengthy period after publication, but has remained high on lists of recommended reading for science and has been an inspiration for many aspiring physicians and scientists.

Biography

Early life

De Kruif was born March 2, 1890, in

Zeeland, Michigan Zeeland ( ) is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,719 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the western edge of Zeeland Charter Township. Its name is taken from the Dutch province of Zeeland. Hist ...

. In 1912, he graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with a bachelor's degree, and he remained there to obtain a Ph.D., which was granted in 1916. He immediately entered service as a private in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

and afterwards served as a lieutenant and a captain in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Because of his service in the Sanitary Corps, he had occasional contacts with leading French biologists of the period.

Career

After returning to the University of Michigan as an assistant professor, De Kruif briefly worked for the Rockefeller Institute (for Medical Research). He then became a full-time writer. De Kruif assisted

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

with his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''Arrowsmith'' (1925) by providing the scientific and medical information required by the plot, along with character sketches. Even though Lewis was listed as the sole author, De Kruif's contribution was significant, and he received 25 percent of the royalties. Many believe the characters in the novel represent people known to De Kruif, with Martin Arrowsmith (a physician, unlike de Kruif) possibly representing himself. While working for the Rockefeller Institute, De Kruif submitted an anonymous entry about modern medicine, for a book entitled ''Civilization''. In the article, he decried the state of contemporary medical practice, which, because it lacked scientifically sound practices, he called "medical Ga-Ga-ism". De Kruif decried doctors as providing only a "mélange of religious ritual, more or less accurate folk-lore, and commercial cunning". When it was discovered that De Kruif was the author of the essay, he was fired from the Rockefeller Institute.

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the ...

, one of the scientists featured in ''Microbe Hunters'', took exception to how he was described, so the British edition deleted that chapter to avoid a

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

suit. De Kruif was a staff writer for the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'', ''

Country Gentleman ''The Country Gentleman'' (1852–1955) was an American agricultural magazine founded in 1852 in Albany, New York, by Luther Tucker.Frank Luther Mott (1938A History of American Magazines 1850–1865"The Country Gentleman", page 432, Harvard Unive ...

'', and ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'', contributing articles on science and medicine. He also served on commissions to promote research into infantile paralysis (polio). ''The Sweeping Wind'', De Kruif's last book, is his autobiography. De Kruif died February 28, 1971, in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...

Works

* ''Our Medicine Men'' (1922) * ''Microbe Hunters'' (1926) * ''Hunger Fighters'' (1928) * ''Seven Iron Men'' (1929) * ''Men Against Death'' (1932) * ''Why Keep Them Alive'' (1937) * ''The Fight for Life'' (1938) * ''The Male Hormone'' (1945) * ''Health is Wealth'' (1940) * ''Life Among the Doctors'' (1949) * ''Kaiser Wakes the Doctors'' (1940) * ''A Man Against Insanity'' (1957) * ''The Sweeping Wind'' (1962)

Influential articles by Paul de Kruif

* "How We Can Help Feed Europe, in Reader's Digest, Sept. 1945 (p. 50-52). About the Meals for Millions Foundation and their Multi-Purpose Food.

''Microbe Hunters''

De Kruif's celebrated 1926 book ''Microbe Hunters'' consists of chapters on the following figures of medicine's " Heroic Age": *

Anton van Leeuwenhoek Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " the ...

(1632-1723) – the invention of a simple

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

and the discovery of microorganisms. *

Lazzaro Spallanzani Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily function ...

(1729-1799) –

biogenesis Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas, could arise ...

. *

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( , ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera (though the Vibrio ...

(1843-1910) – identification of

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

s. *

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

(1822-1895) –

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

. *

Emile Roux Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

(1853-1933) and

Emil von Behring Emil von Behring (; Emil Adolf von Behring), born Emil Adolf Behring (15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist who received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery ...

(1854 -1917) –

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

. *

Elie Metchnikoff Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked ...

(1845-1916) –

phagocytes Phagocytes are cells that protect the body by ingesting harmful foreign particles, bacteria, and dead or dying cells. Their name comes from the Greek ', "to eat" or "devour", and "-cyte", the suffix in biology denoting "cell", from the Greek '' ...

. *

Theobald Smith Theobald Smith FRS(For) HFRSE (July 31, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a pioneering epidemiologist, bacteriologist, pathologist and professor. Smith is widely considered to be America's first internationally-significant medical research scienti ...

(1859-1934) – animal vectors and

tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

s. * David Bruce (1855-1931) –

tsetse flies Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glo ...

and

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

. *

(1857-1932) and Battista Grassi (1854-1925) –

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. *

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 22, 1902) was a U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species rather than b ...

(1851-1902) –

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

. *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

(1854-1915) – the magic-bullet concept applied to

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

(see the 1940 film '' Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet'').

Notes

Bibliography

* Summers, William C. (1998) "Microbe Hunters revisited", ''

International Microbiology ''International Microbiology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media and the official journal of the . It covers all aspects of microbiology. The journal was established in 1947 as ''Microbiol ...

'' 1: 65–68
online
* Verhave, Jan Peter (Spring 2013) "Paul de Kruif: A Michigan Leader in Public Health", ''

Michigan Historical Review The ''Michigan Historical Review'' is a semiannual peer-reviewed academic journal of American history published by thHistorical Society of Michigan It was established in 1974 as ''The Great Lakes Review'' before obtaining its current name in 1986. T ...

'' 39: 41–69.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Kruif, Paul University of Michigan alumni American microbiologists American people of Dutch descent Writers from Michigan 1890 births 1971 deaths People from Zeeland, Michigan