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Louis Pasteur- A pioneer in the study of microbes.
Louis Pasteur born in Dole, Eastern France in 1822, Pasteur was not outstanding as a school boy. But he was hard working. He received a Bachelor’s degree at the age of 17 and then went to a teacher’s college for further education. In 1847 he received a Doctorate in Science and became the Professor of Chemistry at Strasbourg University.
Pasteur’s pioneering work in microbiology began while he was working on fermentation to help the French wine industry. Distillers at that time didn’t know the use of fermentation. Pasteur was the first to understand that fermentation took place due to the presence of living organisms. He experimentally proved that these organisms lived in the air, and was found naturally in substances, as was the accepted theory of his time. Pasteur realized that like fermentation, putrefaction and infection was also caused by microbes. He thus established the germ theory of disease- a revolutionary idea for his time. A result of his work was the discovery of Pasteurization. This is a process where substances are heated to destroy organisms and enable preservation. Today, Pasteurization is widely used in the food industry.
In 1865, Pasteur helped the French silk industry which as about to collapse due to a silk worm disease. Pasteur checked this by discovering that the cause was bacteria residing in the mulberry leaf on which silk worms fed. Pasteur’s greatest gift to mankind was his work on the theory of immunization. He helped French farmers in 1877 by producing a vaccination against chicken cholera and anthrax diseases which were responsible for the destruction of thousands of farm animals.
This greatest scientist is perhaps best remembered for discovering a way to cure one of the most dreadful diseases known to mankind- rabies or hydrophobia. Human beings contact this disease if bitten by an animal infected with it. Pasteur reasoned that a person could be immunized even after being bitten by a rabid animal, if done early enough. In 1885, Pasteur proved the strength of his theory when he saved a lfe of a little boy who had been bitten by a mad dog. Today, this technique is common place and we arable not only to save many lives but also to prevent the spread of the disease by vaccinating our pets before they contact the disease.
Nevertheless, Louis Pasteur’s contributions to both science and mankind was greater than those of any other scientist of his time. His work covered such diverse areas as medicine, agriculture and industry His life is an example of commitment and courage in the face of misfortunes. He as partially paralyzed by a stroke at the age of 45. Many conservative scientists challenged his innovative idea. Yet his fearlessly continued his service to mankind till his death in 1895.