Louis+Pasteur

Louis Pasteur(1822-1895)      "If one were to choose among the greatest benefactors of humanity, Louis Pasteur would certainly rank at the top. He solved the mysteries of rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera, and silkworm diseases, and contributed to the development of the first vaccines. He debunked the widely accepted myth of spontaneous generation, thereby setting the stage for modern biology and biochemistry. He described the scientific basis for fermentation, wine-making, and the brewing of beer. Pasteur's work gave birth to many branches of science, and he was singlehandedly responsible for some of the most important theoretical concepts and practical applications of modern science." Seung Yon Rhee **__Early Life:__** In December of 1822, Louis Pasteur was bron in the French town of Dole. When it was time for him to attend primary school, his father moved the family to Arbois for him to get better schooling. Louis wasn't a great student, but he excelled at Mathamatics and the fine arts. He gained a BA degree from The Royal College in Besancon in 1840. By 1845, he was a master of science, or "   licencié ès sciences," and doctor of philosophy, or "docteur ès sciences." When he became the Professor of Chemistry at The University of Strausbourg in 1849, he married Marie Laurent, daughter of the rector of the university. Together they had five children, but only two survived past childhood. After Living a full and happy life, he died in September of 1895. **__Achievements:__** -In 1848, Louis stumbled upon two crystals with the same chemical compostion. They were tartaric acid and paratartaric acid, and after long work in his labratory, he realized that they were mirror images of each other. But after a long time of research, he noticed that one began to rotate(tartaric acid) while the other stayed in the same spot(paratartaric acid). This discovery began thestudy of stereochemistry- the study of compounds and their shapes. -When asked to help with alcohol fermentation in 1856, he noticed that the mixture often came out as lactic acid. After looking at the yeast cells under a microscope, he noticed that there was a difference between the lactic acid and the successfully fermented yeast. Because it wasn't a simple chemical breakdown, he guessed correctly that there was something unknown at work. He explained it by the theory of spontaneous generation-the thought that living organisms could be produced from non-living organisms. -While researching his spontaneous generation theory, he also created the swan-neck flask. With the flask, he was able to prove his theory by fermenting grape juice in the flask. This flask is now widely used with chemists everywhere. -Pasteur was already so famous, it was no surprise that the Department of Agriculture asked him to look into a disease attacking silkworms, and therefore, the silk industry. Through this research, Louis learned of the process of infection while saving the European silk industry. At the same time, he also worked on the "chicken plague." He found the virus //cholera bacillus// to be the cause of the disease. He found the cure when his test flock of chickens were injected with the cholera in the hot summer sun. With the heat weakening the bacteria, the chickens' immune systems were able to become immune to the virus. -After figuring out what cured the chicken virus, Louis thought that the same thing would apply to humans. He first tested this out with the disease anthrax, which was killing flocks of sheep across Europe. He thought that he would start with sheep, which were larger then chickens and mammals like humans. When he finished the vaccination, it was openly challenged by Rossignol through a public experiment. Louis' vaccination prevailed, and he set his sights on his last major accomplishment- creating a vaccine for rabies. -Because rabies causes major mental damage, it was widely feared throughout Europe, for it was thought to be sent to a person by the devil. After taking the time to find a way to reproduce the disease, he and his colleague Roux set out to find a cure. Roux found a way to make it less potent while they worked with it by drying in it his own "Roux bottle." After coming up with the cure, Pasteur tested it out of many infected dogs. They all were a success, but he was hesitant to give it to humans, saying he "needed many more years of research in order to perfect" his vaccine. He ran out of time when Joseph Meister and his mother appeared on Louis' door, pleading for the vaccine because Joseph had been bitten multiple times by a rabid dog. To Louis' relief, Meister had a full recovery. With this intense success, Louis Pasteur received world-wide fame. His vaccine is still used today.

After reading about Louis Pasteur and his achievments, create an Acrostic Poem using his life and work. Each letter must be paired with a phrase to describe something about Louis Pasteur. For example: "Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity." -Louis Pasteur
 * __Notebook Activity:__**
 * L**ived in France
 * O**nly man to think of the swan-neck flask
 * U**nder a lot of pressure to perfect the rabies vaccination
 * I**ntersested by chemical compostions
 * S**tereochemistry was started from his research

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