Educated at Arbois College and the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, Pasteur worked on his doctorate in chemistry (1846) at Antoine Balard's laboratory. His initial work was concentrated on crystallography, and his discoveries regarding asymmetrical molecules helped to launch the science of stereochemistry. Pasteur worked briefly at Dijon before moving on to Strasbourg University. In 1854, he was appointed Dean and professor of chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences at Lille. While in Lille he assisted the local brewer in analyzing fermentation processes which eventually led to the sterilization process by heating in order to kill microorganisms that affected the fermentation. This process became known as pasteurization. Pasteur also worked on disproving the theories of spontaneous generation and in landmark studies regarding diseases in silkworms. His greatest achievement was the development of the germ theory of disease which led to the developmnent of modern microbiology. His work led to the production of various vaccines for the prevention and cure of major debilitating diseases such as rabies, anthrax and chicken cholera. In 1895, he was awarded the Leeuwenhoek medal, the highest honour in microbiology at that time. |
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