ABSTRACT
C. E. Zobell is frequently described as the “Father” of research on microbial biofilms. His initial paper (Zobell and Allen, 1935) was one of the first to recognize the role of bacterial attachment in the fouling and corrosion of solid surfaces submerged in sea water. In a later paper, Zobell (1943) described several methods that could be used to study bacterial attachment, most notably buried or submerged slide techniques. These procedures are based on the ability of microbes to attach to the slides, which were stained and viewed using a light microscope. The early research of several others in this area is described in this chapter. Any person interested in studying biofilms should begin by reading this chapter.
