Indice: List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements and about the author. Introduction: Revolutionary, by any standards. Pt. 1. Before the germ: 1. The world according to William Brownrigg. Pt. 2. The germs of revolution, 500 B.C.-1850 A.D.: 2. Arsenals of death 3. Contagious effluvia 4. Leeuwenhoek's Little animals 5. Revolution in Paris 6. Dirt, disease and decay 7. The end of the beginning. Pt. 3. Cue, Louis Pasteur: 8. Two duels 9. The English disciple. Pt. IV. Worms, chickens and sheep 10. The plight of the silkworm 11. Anthrax. Pt. V. Koch's postulates 12. 1881: potatoes and postulates. Pt. VI. The four big ones, (1881-1899) 13. The white plague 14. Cholera, Suez and Pettenkofer 15. Pasteur's gatekeeper 16. Typhoid fever. Conclusion: A new science. Bibliography and further reading
