PASTEUR, LOUIS

born Dec. 27, 1822, Dole, Fr. died Sept. 28, 1895, Saint-Cloud, near Paris Pasteur. French chemist and microbiologist whose contributions were among the most varied and valuable in the history of science and industry. It was he who proved that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease; he who originated and was the first to use vaccines for rabies, anthrax, and chicken cholera; he who saved the beer, wine, and silk industries of France and other countries; he who performed important pioneer work in stereochemistry; and he who originated the process known as pasteurization. Additional reading Studies of Pasteur's life and work include mile Duclaux, Pasteur: The History of a Mind (1920, reissued 1973; originally published in French, 1896), a scientific and philosophical work written by a collaborator of Pasteur; Franois Dagognet, Mthodes et doctrine dans l'uvre de Pasteur (1967), primarily a detailed work of methodology; Ren J. Dubos, Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science (1950, reissued 1986), more philosophical than scientific; Elie Metchnikoff (I.I. Mechnikov), The Founders of Modern Medicine: Pasteur, Koch, Lister (1939, reprinted 1971; originally published in French, 1933), written by an important scholar who worked with Pasteur; Jacques Nicolle, Louis Pasteur: A Master of Scientific Enquiry (1961; originally published in French, 1953), and Louis Pasteur: The Story of His Major Discoveries (1961), both works giving a complete authoritative review of Pasteur's discoveries, and Pasteur: sa vie, sa mthode, ses dcouvertes (1969), an account of Pasteur's life and work; and Ren Vallery-Radot, The Life of Pasteur, 2 vol. (1902, reissued 1960; originally published in French, 1900), written by Pasteur's son-in-law, who was also his secretary, a fundamental work on the life of Pasteur but weak from the scientific point of view. Jacques-M.-R. Nicolle The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica