The first person to describe the entire life cycle of endospore-forming Bacillus was
Ferdinand Cohn (1828-1898).  Cohn is credited with being the fonder of bacteriology
and with getting the field of microbiology off to a good start.  Cohn's interest in bacteria,
which he believed belonged to the plant kingdom, began with his involvement in
microscopy.  He stumbled upon the process of spore formation in 1876 when he started
studying heat-resistant bacteria.  Cohn described the life cycle of Bacillus as vegetative
cell --> endospore --> vegetative cell, and he noted that vegetative cells are killed by
boiling, whereas endospores are not.

Picture of Ferdinand Cohn.
http://www.asmusa.org/memonly/asmnews/aug99/fig2f3.htm

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