Louis Pasteur performing experiment on germ theory.
Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, Jura, France on December 27th, 1822. In his early years Pasteur was an average student and in his free time he enjoyed fishing and sketching. In 1838, Pasteur left Paris to join the Institute Barbet but, not long after leaving, did he become homesick and return home. Pasteur then entered the College Royal de Besacon where he earned his BA degree in 1840. He continued his education there and went for his BSc degree with special mathematics but unfortunately failed his first time (1841) but then in 1842 he succeeded from Dijon with, ironically enough, a poor grade in chemistry. In 1844 Pasteur earned his medical license. He then, in 1846, was appointed professor of physics at the College de Tournon at Ardeche. At this time he joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847 became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg.
What did we do before?
Drawing of a "hydrophobic" or rabid dog.
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain) in warm -blooded mammals. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and, for most humans who are bit, death. In the 19th century hydrophobia (what is now known as rabies) was on the rise in Great Britain, it was menacing. Bloomington newspaper's advised citizens to kill their dogs, "better every one of them should die than that one human being should suffer." The Bloomington Intelligencer called for a city ordinance, "against the running at large of the canine race," hoping further action would, "lead to the extermination of a few hundred of the curs with which our town is infested." That August a city ordinance was passed required that pet owners register their animals and pay an annual tax of $1.25 for each male and $3 for each female. Before the vaccination discovered by Louis Pasteur in the mid 1880's a suspected bite from a rabid animal would be cut out of the flesh in and around the infected area and then cauterizing the wound with "lunar caustic."
Science knows no country because it is the light that illuminates the world. -Louis Pasteur