The Prokaryotes

The purpose ofthis brief Foreword is to make you, the reader, hungry for the scientific feast that follows. These two volumes on the prokary otes offer a truly unique scientific menu-a comprehensive assembly of articles, exhibiting the biochemical depth and remarkable physiological and morphological diversity of prokaryote life. The size of the volumes might initially discourage the unprepared mind from being attracted to the study of prokaryote life, for this landmark assemblage thoroughly documents the wealth of present knowledge. But in confronting the reader with the state of the art, the Handbook also defines where new work needs to be done on well-studied bacteria as well as on unusual or poorly studied organisms. There are basically two ways of doing research with microbes. A classical approach is first to define the phenomenon to be studied and then to select the organism accordingly. Another way is to choose a specific organism and go where it leads. The pursuit of an unusual microbe brings out the latent hunter in all of us. The intellectual chal lenges of the chase frequently test our ingenuity to the limit. Sometimes the quarry repeatedly escapes, but the final capture is indeed a wonder ful experience. For many of us, these simple rewards are sufficiently gratifying so that we have chosen to spend our scientific lives studying these unusual creatures.