Louis Pasteur by Nicola Kingsley - National STEM Centre

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Lister greets Pasteur at the Sorbonne 24 normally expect. Encouraged by the result, he expanded this new principle of "antisepsis" (which means "against rotting") and began washing his hands and medical instruments in weak carbolic acid to sterilise them before examining patients or performing operations. The effect was a remarkable decrease in infections. These simple practices began a revolution in hospitals which eventually saved millions of lives. As soon as he was sure his antiseptic methods worked, Lister published his findings, and wrote to Pasteur, telling him what he had achieved. Pasteur was delighted. Not only were lives being saved, but Lister's results were also evidence that supported the germ theory of disease. Shortly after this the Franco-Prussian war began. Patriotic Pasteur tried to join the army. The army would not have him. Quite apart from his paralysis, he was an important scientist and too useful to be wasted in battle. So Pasteur spent the war putting his germ theory to use, travelling round military hospitals insisting that bandages and instruments be boiled to prevent infection. It is hard for us, living today, to imagine what life was like in Pasteur's time. The average length of life was half what
French hospital ward in 1885 it is today, largely because so many people died from serious infectious diseases that spread from person to person. For centuries people had tried to explain what caused disease. Some said it was God's punishment for human sinfulness, others that it resulted from demons or evil spirits invading the body. A common belief was that it was caused by "bad air"-the disease malaria got its name from the Italian "mal aria", which means "bad air". During the great plague which swept seventeenth century England, people used to carry around posies of flowers and oranges with cloves stuck in them; these were intended to do more than just mask the foul smells of sickness and death. People hoped that by sweetening the air they could protect themselves against the disease. Pasteur's idea, that microbes could cause disease, was not entirely new. The notion that living things too small to be seen existed and could pass from one person to another through the air, on clothing, or by touch, causing disease, is recorded far back in history, before the time of Christ. But there was no convincing evidence for that idea until microbes were discovered. Just knowing that microbes existed was not enough. It still remained to show that they caused disease. Lister's work was a step in the right direction, but Pasteur still needed more evidence to support the germ theory. 25
Page 2 and 3: Louis Pasteur by Nicola Kingsley Se
Page 4 and 5: • Louis Pasteur
Page 6 and 7: Pasteur's house 6 at Dole Pasteur g
Page 8 and 9: Pasteur dictating notes on silkworm
Page 10 and 11: Budding in yeast cells 10 bad vineg
Page 12 and 13: Pasteur in his laboratory 12 Pasteu
Page 14 and 15: A drop of pond water magnified to s
Page 16 and 17: 16 By 1859 no one had come any clos
Page 18 and 19: Mer de Glace on Mont Blanc where Pa
Page 20 and 21: 20 I ChaQter 4 A theory of disease
Page 22 and 23: The microscope used by Pasteur at W
Page 26 and 27: 26 I Cha~ter 5 Farmyard microbes Wi
Page 28 and 29: Early vaccination for diphtheria 28
Page 30 and 31: Anthrax bacilli 30 with the disease
Page 32 and 33: A sheep being vaccinated 32 When he
Page 34 and 35: 34 His assistants brought the news
Page 36 and 37: Pasteur experimenting on a chlorofo
Page 38 and 39: Statue at the Pasteur Institute of
Page 40 and 41: The Pasteur Institute 40 The news o
Page 42: 42 Before his success with rabies,

Louis Pasteur by Nicola Kingsley - National STEM Centre

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