Louis Pasteur was born to a tanner who had worked In Napoleon’s army and had been honoured by him. Louis was born in France.
He studied Chemistry and became a Chemistry Professor. His wife was also his assistant during experiments.
Louis devoted his whole life to the study of bacteria which are present everywhere – air, water, soil, bodies of animals and plants. Some of them are harmful and some very useful.
Louis discoveries helped common people of his country carry on their professions of brewing, breeding silk worms and keeping cows. When Pasteur was appointed as Head of a College of Science in Lille, a busy manufacturing town, he was happy because now he could help people with problems in their professions. At that time, people did not have a clear understanding of yeast and germs.
Pasteur carried out many experiments to prove that germs were carried in the air and could infect other things that came into contact with them. His experiments with a bend in the long tube of a soup bottle and many bottles of soup opened in different places, proved that air is full of dust particles and germs are carried by this dust.
Pasteur made his process of ‘Pasteurization’ popular by showing that by heating wine or milk to a temperature of 50 or 60 degrees centigrade, the germ in them was made harmless.
Pasteur founded the branch of science called ‘Bacteriology’ and studied for 3 years the cause of a disease ruining the silkworm industry.
When Pasteur realized that a cow could not have anthrax twice, he thought of injecting very weak old germs to cows or sheep to make them immune from anthrax. He demonstrated that this could be done so by experimenting in public with two groups of sheep, goats, and cows. The ones which were injected with weak germs survived, whereas the other group which hadn’t been injected died.
Pasteur showed that inoculation with weak germs worked with rabies too by injecting weak rabies germs into a rabies-affected boy.
Pasteur was honoured by the French Government, and his memory is still honored at the Institute Pasteur in Paris where bacteriology is studied by men of all nations.
Pasteur’s 70th birthday was celebrated as a national festival. He died in 1895 at the age of 75.
Pasteur felt that the future belonged to those who shall have done the most for suffering humanity. He told youngsters that they would feel supreme happiness only when they contributed to the progress and welfare of humanity.
