Louis Pasteur is an outstanding personality, whose discoveries are recorded in history in large letters for many centuries to come.
The well-known French scientist Louis Pasteur has won awards for his discoveries more than once. Not having a formal medical and chemical education, he managed to make a huge contribution to microbiology and immunology, which led to the saving of millions of lives. The French Academy in 1881 unconditionally accepted Pasteur into its ranks for substantiating the microbiological essence of fermentation. It was he who invented the saving pasteurization and vaccination of mankind.
Childhood and youth
In 1822, in the French department of Jura, the most ordinary boy was born into the family of a war veteran and ordinary tanner Jean Pasteur. Surprisingly, Louis' father was an absolutely illiterate man, but he decided to give his son the best education in France and further support him in any endeavors. Having finished school perfectly, Louis, with the blessing of his father, enters college, where he becomes the youngest student. Perseverance and diligence helped him quickly become a teacher's assistant, and then completely take the place of a junior college teacher.
After graduating from college, the young teacher moved to Paris and entered the Higher Normal School, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the French Republic. There he is fond of painting, talentedly depicting his family on canvas, his paintings were awarded special praise and brought him a Bachelor of Arts degree. But soon interest in chemistry completely absorbed the young Pasteur, and he decides to abandon painting. His career is going well, first he works as a teacher at the Diejon Lyceum, then at the University of Strasbourg as a professor of chemistry. By the way, it was there that he was lucky enough to meet his future wife.
Biology and chemistry
The first scientific work was devoted to the discovery of chemical compounds that were obtained as a result of the metabolic breakdown of the nutrients of tartaric acid. Through an in-depth study of this experiment, he identified two mirror types of crystals with optical activity. The work was published in 1848, and in 1857 a scientist explained the origin of the fermentation process, which was applied in his first work. In this process, he was able to reveal the vital activity of yeast proteins and refute the conclusion of Justus von Liebig about the chemical origin of fermentation. It was this work that brought celebrity and recognition from colleagues.
At this time, the scientist himself holds the position of director at the Higher Normal School, where, thanks to his administrative abilities, he increases the prestige of the institution. In addition to teaching, Pasteur begins to study the process of spontaneous generation of microorganisms. In 1862, he received an award from the French Academy of Sciences for his experience proving that microbes themselves cannot be born. This discovery refuted the opinion of other researchers and became the only one effectively correct.
Pasteurization and vaccination
In the arsenal of the professor in the middle of the 19th century, a patented method of disinfecting products and prolonging their safety appears. This technique is later called pasteurization, and it consists in heating substances up to sixty degrees for an hour. The scientist managed to open this method after the request of the winemakers who turned to him, who complained about the quick spoilage of wine. This discovery is still successfully used by factories for the manufacture of liquid products. Deafening fame awaited after the announcement of the new discovery, but unfortunately, it did not work out for a long time to rejoice at its success.
Soon, three of Pasteur's children die of typhoid fever. Such a tragic event entailed a new passion for the professor, namely the study of diseases transmitted from sick to healthy. He diligently began to investigate the wounds and abscesses of patients, to identify the causative agents of such diseases as streptococcus and staphylococcus. Conducts countless experiments on animals and birds, the meaning of which was to forcibly infect chickens with the dried virus, and then reinfect the birds. They, in turn, carried the disease in a milder form. Through this experiment, vaccination is born. Later, a vaccine against anthrax and rabies was created. The leap in immunology is continuously associated with the name of this microbiologist.
Personal life
As previously written, he met his future wife while still a little-known professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. To be more precise, Marie Laurent was the daughter of the rector of the aforementioned higher educational institution. Literally a week after the first meeting with the girl, Pasteur in a letter asks his father for the hand and heart of his daughter. After the consent of the father, the couple marries and lives a long life together, in which five children are born. A spouse for a scientist becomes not only a loving wife, but also an assistant and support in all his initiatives.
Having survived a stroke at the age of 45, the microbiologist does not stop at his discoveries and has been working hard in the field of science for another thirty years. On September 28, 1895, at the age of 73, Louis Pasteur dies of health complications. He was posthumously awarded awards for his contribution to science, streets and sights of some countries are named after him.
