Expert storytellers weave together the science, technological advances, medical urgencies, and human stories that chronicle the development of the field of diagnostic virology. * Follows a historical discoveries that defined viruses and their roles in infectious diseases over a century of developments, epidemics, and molecular advances, and continuing into the 21st century with AIDS, HIV, and a future that in no way resembles the past. * Features the great names and personalities of diagnostic virology, their contributions, their associations, and their challenges to prove findings that some considered fantasy. * Describes how scientists applied revolutionary technologies, studying viruses, first in animal models and tissue culture and progressing to molecular and genetic techniques. * Appeals to the pioneer and adventure-seeker who is interested in how a scientific field evolves.