The discovery of the Archaea (then archaebacteria) by Carl Woese in the late 1970s fundamentally reshaped our understanding the major lineages of life on Earth. It also stoked a fundamental conceptual revolution in microbial evolutionary thinking in general. Woese's discoveries, insight, and subsequent work provided for the first time an evolutionary framework for understanding and interrelating all microbial life on Earth, and modeling its possible origins. This new molecular phylogenetic framework led to another, related revolution in the field of microbial ecology.
By adapting molecular phylogenetic approaches to surveys in the field a new branch of microbial ecology emerged that has contributed significantly to our current understanding of microbial life on Earth. Molecular phylogenetic surveys in soils, oceans, sediments, symbiotic associations and many other environments have led to the discovery of major new phylogenetic lineages including the recognition of a much broader phylogenetic and environmental distribution of archaeal species. These cultivation independent surveys, spearheaded have also led to a better understanding of the spatio-temporal distribution and dynamics of microorganisms, and provided new ways to link microbial form and function in Nature. These seminal ideas were next logically extended to the development of another new field, referred to as environmental genomics or metagenomics. This emerging research arena provides new opportunities for studying microbial population biology, and observing genome evolution and speciation in near real time. The seminal discovery of the Archaea and the insights Woese gleaned from their recognition have fundamentally advanced, enriched, and revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth, and the way that we study it. New world views do not arise often - we are very fortunate to celebrate this one with its founder, in real time.
