Microbiology can be viewed as an amalgam of many fields of study, including biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. A complete understanding of microbiology would require a complete understanding of all these areas of inquiry. Given the limits on our ability to fully understand microbiology, we will focus on three areas. The first third of the semester will be devoted to a basic introduction to bacteria and viruses, including discussions of microbial structures, classifications, and replication strategies. The second third of the semester will be devoted to microbial interactions with us, how do microbes cause disease? The final third of the semester will be devoted to environmental microbes and how microbes will do to affect the environment.

Microbiology with Diseases by Taxonomy (4th Edition) by Robert W. B auman, 2014.