Louis Pasteur by Nicola Kingsley - National STEM Centre

The microscope
used by Pasteur
at Whitbreads
when he was
called to England
to investigate
. some brewing
problems
22
the wine, after fermentation was completed, to kill off the
second lot of microbes. Now the wine would be able to
mature without going bad. This treatment by gentle
heating became known as "pasteurization", and is the
same process used to make sure the milk we drink is free
from harmful microbes.
At first the wine growers were horrified. They were sure it
would ruin the flavour of the wine. Pasteur was able to
show them that it did not, but it took a long time to
convince everyone. He kept a cellar full of pasteurized and
unpasteurized wines, and at regular intervals official
parties of wine tasters would sample them and publish
reports saying that the treated wine was better. He even
publicized his method by getting the French navy to take
pasteurized wine on long voyages, to show how well it
travelled. Having worked hard to develop a good idea, he
made sure that everyone was convinced by it. He also
worked out how to apply it on a large scale, making sure it
did not cost too much, and how to preserve other drinks
and foods by the 'same method. As a result of this work, he
was then asked to help the 'beer brewing industry to
improve its production methods.
Pasteur could have made a lot of money from his
discoveries, but he refused to profit from them in this way.
He took no interest in money in case it might distract him
from science. His salary was paid directly to his wife, and
he left the financial side of running his laboratory to others.