Laguna College of Art and Design

There are many ways for a work of history to draw upon the skills and insights of other disciplines, whether of sociology, psychology, or, in the case of the book under review, journalism. De Wolk had a long and successful career as a journalist before undertaking the lengthy period of archival research that more typically is the province of the historian. Happily, the resulting book has many of the strengths that one might anticipate from this combination, such as vivid prose and a strong narrative drive.The title is indicative of De Wolk’s argument that Leland Stanford was, as the driving force of capitalism, the living embodiment of Schumpeter’s “creative destruction.”1 That is, Stanford and his colleagues in the Big Four of railroad magnates who built the Central Pacific, with a shaping influence on the history of California and the nation as a whole, did not let ethical niceties stand in the way of their push to build a transcontinental line. This line would famously be completed at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869, when its eastward-bound tracks met those of the westward Union Pacific. But Stanford, in particular, can be faulted for openly using high office as a Civil War governor of the state to advance the interests of the Central Pacific, as De Wolk makes plain.Stanford was born in upstate New York in 1824, in a large family. Nothing in his early life—a failure to persevere in any one course long enough to be successful and a lack of commitment to education were outstanding characteristics—foretold his later towering role. Having led an undistinguished life before arriving in Sacramento in July 1852 to join his four brothers, he did not immediately strike it rich. But the store that they ran had two notable neighbors, Collis P. Huntington and Mark Hopkins, and the nucleus of the Big Four became acquainted with one another (Charles Crocker was the fourth). Within less than a decade, and under the influence of the pioneering engineer Theodore Judah, who had figured out how to conquer the Sierras, the Big Four were on their way to amassing fortunes with their creation of the Central Pacific, even if they would soon become archetypal Robber Barons—defined as those who become rich through unscrupulous means.Two main criticisms can be leveled at the book. First, It contains a number of generalizations that seem overly broad or even unfair. To cite one example, De Wolk gives short shrift to abolitionists, even though they, while a minority, would play an important role in shaping public opinion in the Golden State during the Civil War. The other criticism concerns De Wolk’s suggested connection between Stanford—the human disruptor—and Stanford University—the institution that Stanford and his wife Jane founded to honor their dead son. The university has been a disruptive force in the Santa Clara Valley by being a catalyst for Silicon Valley. Rather than taking criticism for suggesting the connection, he should have made a more forceful case. He tells us that the Stanfords endowed the university with a land grant of more than 8,000 acres, spanning what is now not only Santa Clara County but also San Mateo County. That land was in the hands of Leland Stanford because of the ruthless way in which he had pursued wealth. His initial success with the railroad led to vast riches, but it was not the only mode by which he gained his wealth, as De Wolk makes clear.De Wolk devotes some attention to the death of Stanford’s wife Jane in 1905 (twelve years after her husband’s), while she served as president of the university's board of trustees. Notwithstanding the machinations of David Starr Jordan, the president of Stanford University at the time, whom Jane did not like, De Wolk confirms that she was poisoned by a person (or persons) unknown whose identity is impossible to trace at this point.Flash forward to the twenty-first century. A newspaper story in the November 3, 2019, issue of the San Jose Mercury News, “Who Owns Silicon Valley?” identified Stanford University, owning holdings with a current market value of $19.7 billion, as the county’s property owner with the most valuable holdings—exceeding, for example, those of Apple, Google, and other tech firms—without even taking into account the value of the land in San Mateo County. Thus, a direct line clearly runs between the Robber Baron tactics responsible for Leland Stanford’s success and the extraordinarily powerful institution that he and his wife founded, an institution with resources virtually unmatched in higher education on a global level.In sum, this flawed but valuable book provides a good summation of the life of an important American, in a highly readable way. But it should not be regarded as the last word.

The obligate anaerobic, Gram-positive cocci include cocci that do not produce spores and sometimes appear as elongated coccobacilli. This chapter discusses various anaerobic Gram-positive cocci which can be isolated from clinical specimens and are known to cause infections in humans. The isolated species include Anaerococcus, Finegoldia, Parvimonas, Peptococcus, Peptoniphilus, and Peptostreptococcus. The anaerobic non-spore-forming Gram-positive bacilli that may cause infections in humans are divided into two phyla, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Actinomyces spp. have been isolated from a variety of sites, including cutaneous, central nervous system, dental and oral, musculoskeletal, and pericardial sites and including a variety of other invasive specimens.

Pseudomonas spp. are widely distributed in the environment and are often found in moist areas, where they can grow as biofilms attaching to surfaces. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a member of the normal microbiota of the intestinal tract. It is by far the most frequent cause of health care-related infections and the most important pathogen in this genus. Mucoid strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause chronic infections in a high percentage of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Immunocompetent individuals are resistant to serious Pseudomonas infections. Although Pseudomonas spp. grow on routine culture media, more rapid nucleic acid detection methods have been used for certain situations, e.g., evaluating sputum from CF patients and screening environmental niches. Additionally, Pseudomonas aeruginosa has the ability to rapidly acquire resistance to multiple classes of antibiotic during the treatment course.

Tropheryma whipplei is a Gram-positive bacillus that stains poorly with Gram stain and is negative with acid-fast staining. Tropheryma whipplei causes Whipple's disease, which was originally described as an intestinal lipodystrophy. If the disease is not treated with antibiotics, the patient can develop malabsorption, which can be fatal. Histologically, the typical finding includes foamy macrophages infiltrating the lamina propria of the small intestine that are positive with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain. Immunohistochemistry assays using rabbit anti-Tropheryma whipplei are more sensitive and specific than PAS staining. Due to possible false-positive and -negative results with the PAS stain, specimens should also be tested by a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). In the absence of histopathological findings, a positive NAAT for this organism should be interpreted cautiously if no clinical symptoms are present.

The organisms described in this chapter form a diverse group of nonfermentative, catalase-positive, Gram-negative bacilli and coccobacilli. They can be divided into five groups based upon oxidase, indole, and trypsin reactions and pigment production. The genus Acinetobacter consists of 51 named species and 11 unnamed species. Of these, 26 are associated with human infections. There are 20 species of Moraxella; however, only four are part of the normal microbiota of the human respiratory tract. Moraxella catarrhalis is considered a human mucosal pathogen. There are over 100 species of Chryseobacterium; however, only four named species have been isolated from clinical specimens: Chryseobacterium indologenes, Chryseobacterium gleum, Chryseobacterium anthropi, and Chryseobacterium hominis. Methylobacterium spp. are pink nonfermenters, and their name is derived from their ability to utilize methanol as the sole carbon source.

The genus Yersinia, a member of the order Enterobacterales in the family Yersiniaceae fam. nov., includes three pathogenic species, Yersinia pestis, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, along with an additional 15 species that are nonpathogenic to humans. Y. enterocolitica can cause enterocolitis in humans, and the disease may mimic acute appendicitis, because it can result in mesenteric lymphadenitis, which is associated with severe abdominal pain. This organism is found in the gastrointestinal tracts of many animal species, mostly dogs, rodents, and swine. Y. pseudotuberculosis is primarily a pathogen of rodents, rabbits, and wild birds and rarely causes infections in humans. Although they are rare, infections usually occur in children and young adults. Y. pestis is best seen when stained with Giemsa, Wright's, Wayson, or methylene blue stain rather than the Gram stain.

There are 59 species within the genus Legionella, which is the only genus in the family Legionellaceae. The majority of human infections are caused by Legionella pneumophila, Legionella micdadei, Legionella longbeachae, and Legionella dumoffii. Once inhaled, Legionella infects human macrophages, in particular alveolar macrophages. The organisms possess several genes, including those belonging to a type IV secretion system, that enable them to evade host defenses, multiplying and surviving in an intracellular host environment. Legionella spp. are difficult to see on a routine Gramstain and therefore can be better visualized with a carbol fuchsin rather than safranin as a counterstain. Legionella spp. are motile aerobic organisms that require l-cysteine for growth, exhibit enhanced growth with iron under 5 percent CO2, and are asaccharolytic and relatively inert biochemically.