The Makers of Science

The Makers of Science By Dr. Franklin S. Harris, Director Utah Agricultural Experiment Station

II. —Pasteur All the people of the world are beneficiaries of the work of Louis Pasteur. Diseases that have baffled mankind since the dawn of history have been made to yield as a result of the re- searches of this scientist. Before his contributions to human learning were made, physicians treated disease in a helpless sort of way, and cures were largely a matter of accident. By his work the industries have been revolutionized and all the activities of mankind have been influenced. Pasteur was born Dec. 27, 1822, in Dole, of parents who were in humble circumstances. His father who had received the Legion of Honor for valor as a soldier, was a tanner by trade. As is the case with many men who achieve the greatest success, young Pasteur was reared in humble circumstances. His love for work and his great industry assisted him in over- coming all obstacles, and by the time he was thirty-five years old he was made director of scientific studies at the Ecole Normal in Paris. He had previously been professor in Strasburg and in Lille. His important contribution to science was to prove first in 1857 that fermentation was caused by organic life. Previous to this time it was thought to be due to simple chemical action that took place without the aid of life. The theory of the spontaneous origin of life, which had been held at various times, was in 1859 revived by Pouchet who held that living organisms came spontaneously without needing any parent organisms. Experiments which he con- ducted seemed to prove this theory; but Pasteur, before a bril- liant audience at Sorbonne, in 1864, repeated the experiments of Pouchet and showed the source of their error. He at this time exploded for all time the theory that life originates spontan- eously by chance. His studies of fermentation led him to a consideration of the causes and prevention of disease. He found that many of the diseases were caused by small organisms or germs. For a number of these he developed anti-toxins; but more important, he opened the way for later workers to find methods of treating diseases that were previously entirely beyond control. His dis-