Textbook in PDF format

Microbiology is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester Microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of Microbiology make the material interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter.
The scope and sequence of Microbiology has been developed and vetted with input from numerous instructors at institutions across the US. It is designed to meet the needs of most microbiology courses for non-majors and allied health students. In addition, we have also considered the needs of institutions that offer microbiology to a mixed audience of science majors and non-majors by frequently integrating topics that may not have obvious clinical relevance, such as environmental and applied microbiology and the history of science.
With these objectives in mind, the content of this textbook has been arranged in a logical progression from fundamental to more advanced concepts. The opening chapters present an overview of the discipline, with individual chapters focusing on microscopy and cellular biology as well as each of the classifications of microorganisms. Students then explore the foundations of microbial biochemistry, metabolism, and genetics, topics that provide a basis for understanding the various means by which we can control and combat microbial growth. Beginning with Chapter 15, the focus turns to microbial pathogenicity, emphasizing how interactions between microbes and the human immune system contribute to human health and disease. The last several chapters of the text provide a survey of medical microbiology, presenting the characteristics of microbial diseases organized by body system.
Depth and Breadth of Microbiology
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Microscope and the Cell
Prokaryotic Diversity
The Eukaryotes of Microbiology
Mechanisms of Microbial Genetics
Microbial Metabolism
Microbial Growth
Acellular Pathogens
Modern Applications of Microbial Genetics
Control of Microbial Growth
Microbial Interactions Flora, Pathogenicity and Epidemiology
Innate Nonspecific Host Defenses
Specific Adaptive Host Defenses