Pasteur was responsible for disproving the doctrine of spontaneous generation. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, his experiment demonstrated that in sterilized and sealed flasks, nothing ever developed; conversely, in sterilized but open flasks, microorganisms could grow.[14] For this experiment, the academy awarded him the Alhumbert Prize carrying 2,500 francs in 1862.
Pasteur is also regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory of diseases, which was a minor medical concept at the time.[15] His many experiments showed that diseases could be prevented by killing or stopping germs, thereby directly supporting the germ theory and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. Pasteur also made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what is now called optical isomerism. His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds.
He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death, and his body was interred in a vault beneath the institute. Although Pasteur made groundbreaking experiments, his reputation became associated with various controversies. Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals.[16][17]
Education and early life
Portraits of Pasteur's parents, painted by himself
The house in which Pasteur was born, Dole
Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner.[18] He was the third child of Jean-Joseph Pasteur and Jeanne-Etiennette Roqui. The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827.[19][20] Pasteur entered primary school in 1831.[21] He was dyslexic and dysgraphic.[22][23][24]
He was an average student in his early years, and not particularly academic, as his interests were fishing and sketching.[18] He drew many pastels and portraits of his parents, friends and neighbors.[25] Pasteur attended secondary school at the Collège d'Arbois.[26] In October 1838, he left for Paris to join the Pension Barbet, but became homesick and returned in November.[27]
In 1839, he entered the Collège Royal at Besançon to study philosophy and earned his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1840.[28] He was appointed a tutor at the Besançon college while continuing a degree science course with special mathematics.[29] He failed his first examination in 1841. He managed to pass the baccalauréat scientifique (general science) degree from Dijon, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree (Bachelier ès Sciences Mathématiques) in 1842,[1] but with a mediocre grade in chemistry.[30]
Later in 1842, Pasteur took the entrance test for the École Normale Supérieure.[31] He passed the first set of tests, but because his ranking was low, Pasteur decided not to continue and try again next year.[32] He went back to the Pension Barbet to prepare for the test. He also attended classes at the Lycée Saint-Louis and lectures of Jean-Baptiste Dumas at the Sorbonne.[33] In 1843, he passed the test with a high ranking and entered the École Normale Supérieure.[34] In 1845 he received the licencié ès sciences degree.[35] In 1846, he was appointed professor of physics at the Collège de Tournon (now called Lycée Gabriel-Faure) in Ardèche. But the chemist Antoine Jérôme Balard wanted him back at the École Normale Supérieure as a graduate laboratory assistant (agrégé préparateur).[36] He joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847, he submitted his two theses, one in chemistry and the other in physics: (a) Chemistry Thesis: "Recherches sur la capacité de saturation de l'acide arsénieux. Etudes des arsénites de potasse, de soude et d'ammoniaque."; (b) Physics Thesis: "1. Études des phénomènes relatifs à la polarisation rotatoire des liquides. 2. Application de la polarisation rotatoire des liquides à la solution de diverses questions de chimie."[2][35][37]
After serving briefly as professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée in 1848, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg,[38] where he met and courted Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849. They were married on 29 May 1849,[39] and together had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood;[40] the other three died of typhoid.
Louis Pasteur
FRS
Photograph by Nadar
Born 27 December 1822
Dole, France
Died 28 September 1895 (aged 72)
Marnes-la-Coquette, France
Education Mathematics,[1] Docteur ès Sciences (Chemical Physics)[2]
Alma mater
École Normale Supérieure
University of Paris
Known for Germ theory of disease
Rabies vaccine
Cholera vaccine[3]
Anthrax vaccines
Pasteurization
Spouse
Marie Laurent
(m. 1849)
Children 5
Awards
Legion of Honor Grand Cross (1881)
Rumford Medal (1856)
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1869)[4]
Copley Medal (1874)
Albert Medal (1882)
Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (1883)
Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1889)
Leeuwenhoek Medal (1895)
Order of the Medjidie[5]
Scientific career
Fields
Biology
Microbiology
Chemistry
Mathematics
Physics
Institutions
University of Strasbourg
University of Lille
École Normale Supérieure
Pasteur Institute
Notable students Charles Friedel[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur
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