Used with
permission of Maiken Naylor, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA,
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/exhibits/stamps
Robert Koch (1843-1910) was a German bacteriologist who revolutionized the methods of culturing and staining bacterial organisms, and discovered the tubercle bacillus, the cause of tuberculosis. His study of the anthrax bacillus determined that its spores can survive in the ground for years, and he identified the cholera bacillus in victims of the disease in Africa and India, where he traveled to study other tropical diseases.