Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur has been one of our greatest scientists. This French chemist and microbiologist made many very significant discoveries. These discoveries of fundamental value and far-reaching significance were in the fields of health, medicine, diseases, industry, and agriculture. These proved really landmarks in our glorious history of science and achievements. His devotion to his research and scientific work was exemplary and he never sought any personal gains or advantage for himself from these. His lifetime achievements in chemistry and bacteriology immensely benefitted the entire humanity and we all feel so proud of this great man and scientist.
Pasteur’s discoveries were of great practical value for medicine, health, industry, and agriculture. These saved millions of lives and generated immense new wealth for the entire world. He saved silk, liquor, and agriculture from diseases and destruction. He discovered the process of pasteurization and invented ways and means to save mankind from such deadly diseases as anthrax, chicken cholera, and rabies. Because of his so many and so valuable discoveries he a darling of the world and grew into a legend in his own lifetime.
Lous Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, France. His father was a tanner. He never wanted his son to follow in his footsteps because a tanner involved unremitting hard labor. Pasteur’s parents were honest, hard-working, and devout. In 1827 Pasteurs moved to nearby Arbois and there the child was admitted to a school. It was here that Louis as a schoolboy showed great promise and attracted.
He attention of the school teachers and the headmaster. At the age of 17, he received a degree of bachelor of letters from the Royal de Besancon College. For the next three years, he taught some Junio, Students to earn money and made preparations for the Ecole Normale a famous college in Paris. During this period he worked on the crystallographic chemical and optical properties of various forms of tartaric acid which laid the foundations for later research and studies in the geometry of chemical bonds. These studies helped him in Betting recognition and the job of an assistant to a professor of chemistry,
Pasteur got a doctor of science degree in 1847 and soon became a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. As an assistant to Mr. Bolard, he came in contact with such other professors as Jean Baptiste, Dumas, etc. At Strasbourg, he met officially the President of the university. He developed a love for his daughter Marie Laurent and sent his marriage proposal to her father.: They were married on May 29, 1849. His wife shared his passion for science and research and they had five children but unfortunately, three of them died in childhood.
Pasteur became a professor of chemistry and dean. of new Science Faculty at the University of Lille in 1854. Some of his greatest work was done here during his stay at Lille. His interest in microbes was growing when a local distiller approached him for help in preventing alcohol from turning sour which he was producing from beet sugar. Pasteur found during his studies that fermentation was a complex Chemical reaction that happened only in the presence of certain living Organisms. He also discovered that fermentation, putrefaction, infection, and souring are caused by microbes. This was a revolutionary discovery. He also discovered what caused milk turning sour and gave the world the valuable technique of pasteurization and thus immensely helped the dairy industry.
In 1857, Pasteur left Lille and returned to his old institution, the Ecole Normale in Paris. He was made manager and director of the institute. In 1862 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. During these years he further studied the germ theory and proved that germs or microbes did not originate spontaneously in the matter but entered from the outside. In 1865 he discovered how bacteria caused diseases in silk production. He also showed how to prevent the disease by destroying bacteria in mulberry leaves. It was the result of his 2-years hard work and research leading to the isolation of the bacteria that caused the diseases in silkworms.
Two of his children had already died and then in October 1868 he himself became a victim of another great tragedy. He was struck by paralysis. His left arm and leg were paralyzed and he was confined to bed, but within three months he was back at his work table. Then he was 45 years old. The paralytic stroke left its mark on him and for the rest of his life, his left foot dragged a little while he walked. Soon he began his research on contagious diseases. In 1877 he began to research a cure for anthrax, the fatal disease found in farm animals. He was also working on chicken cholera then. He found that when he inoculated healthy chickens with weakened cultures of the cholera microbes, the chicken developed immunity to the disease. He successfully applied this technique of immunization to the prevention of anthrax. He isolated anthrax bacilli and also how to control and eradicate it.
At first, many scientists doubted his anthrax prevention theory and application. And so he agreed to a dramatic test and a public demonstration. He collected some forty-eight sheep, cows, and goats at a farm near Melun. Half the animals were first immunized with a weakened strain of anthrax microbes and then all were injected with strong cultures. Pasteur predicted that within 48 hours all the vaccinated animals would be alive while unvaccinated ones would be dead. And really the untreated animals died but the immunized ones showed no effect of the disease. The test and demonstration were a complete success. He called all inoculation cultures as vaccines and the technique of inoculation a vaccination.
Finally, Pasteur devoted himself to solving a very great problem of rabies. Rabies is also known as hydrophobia and is caused by a virus infection that affects a wide range of animals including dogs, cats, foxes, skunks, and vampire bats. It is transmitted to human beings by bites and licks on skin abrasions. It directly and predominantly affects the central nervous system and salivary glands resulting in hallucinations and delusions. Other symptoms include restlessness, muscle spasms, and painful spasms of the larynx making it difficult for the infected person to drink. The alternative name “hydrophobia” stems from the difficulty in drinking water by the infected man or animal.
In July 1885 a young boy named Joseph Meister bitten by a mad dog was brought before Pasture. Unless some effective treatment was given to the boy, he was bound to die soon. Pasture undertook to treat the patient and he was given the injection and there was gradual recovery and improvement and the treatment was successful. The. the technique of vaccination and inoculation had worked wonders. For his wonderful discoveries, he was awarded many honors and prizes. Honors poured upon him from all over the globe. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was set up in Paris. Thousands of persons contributed funds towards establishing this institute and laboratory of world fame, where scientists conduct research on different diseases. From 1888 till his death on September 25, 1895, he was head of the Pasteur Institute. The French government gave him a public funeral and his death was mourned in science circles all over the world.
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