We remember Thomas D. Brock
Tom Brock (September 10, 1926 − April 4, 2021) can readily be considered the father of extremophile microbiology. He pioneered the study of high temperature-loving microbes, by investigating, in a nearly frolicsome way, the hot springs of Yellowstone Park. He carried out this work pretty much alone, with both experimental ingenuity and conceptual gusto, laying down the basis for a new way to appreciate the microbial world. He also wrote a trailblazing textbook, Biology of Microorganisms (which other authors carried through 15 editions.)
His legacy certainly includes the insight, gained through painstaking experimental work, that microorganisms need to be studied in their natural environment in order to really get to know them. But rather than paraphrase, let's let him speak himself:
(excerpts from the chapter "Adaptation to the upper temperature limit by Synechococcus", p43 ff, from Tom Brock's book A Scientist in Yellowstone National Park. ©Thomas D. Brock 2017)
Photosynthetic efficiency of algal cores taken from a location at 58.5 °C and incubated at various temperatures. Curves are for separate experiments on August 29, 1966 (11−12 a.m.), and August 21, 1966 (2−3 p.m.). Values on the ordinate are c.p.m./µg of chlorophyll. Representative values for peak point of 11-12 a.m. series are: radioactivity, 33,300 c.p.m./core; chlorophyll, 19.2 µg/core. Source. Frontispiece: Sampling a small hot spring along the Yellowstone River. August 22, 1964. Source |