Pasteur

Louis (1822–1895). French chemist and bacteriologist, founder of microbiology and developer of the method of vaccination by attenuated virus. By optical investigation of racemic acid, he discovered a new class of isomeric substances which led to work by others on stereochemistry and for which he received the ribbon of the Legion of Honor. Pasteur came to the rescue of the wine industry by his interest in fermentation, and showed that spoiling of wine caused by microorganisms could be prevented by partial heat sterilization (pasteurization), a process now applied to many perishable foods. Experimental foundation was given to his ideas of fermentation and the long-accepted theory of spontaneous generation was disposed of once and for all. Later he came to the rescue of the silkworm industry and found methods for detecting and preventing pébrine and flâcherie, the two diseases that were destroying it. He turned his attention then to anthrax, chicken cholera, and hydrophobia (rabies), and developed preventive inoculations against them. The Pasteur Institute was opened shortly thereafter and institutions were founded all over the world for inoculation against rabies.