Louis Pasteur

French scientist, biochemist and bacteriologist, considered the founder of preventative medicine. He is best known for the origination of pasteurization, a process by which harmful bacteria in perishable food products are destroyed using heat, and his contributions are some of the most valuable in the history of science and industry.

Descended from generations of tanners, as a child, Pasteur’s main interest was drawing and he often did pastel portraits of his parents and friends. He attended primary and secondary school first in Arbois, and later in Besancon. He earned his bachelor of arts at the Royal College in Besancon in 1840, and followed this by achieving his bachelor of science in 1842. The following year, he entered the famous teachers’ college, École Normale Supérieure, in Paris, and received his master of science in 1845. After receiving an advanced degree in physical sciences, he got his doctor of philosophy in 1847.

On 22 May 1848, he presented a paper to the Paris Academy of Sciences; the discovery of which he spoke involved molecular asymmetry and formed the foundation for much of his later research. That same year, he became a professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée, but moved on to become a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. In 1854, he became dean of the science faculty of University of Lille where he put in place an exceedingly modern education concept by offering evening classes for the workmen of the city. It was here that he began his studies on the process of fermentation, an in 1857, he was named Director of Scientific Studies at École Normale Supérieure where he continued his research.

Pasteur was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1862, and the following year, École des Beaux-Arts put him in charge of a new program of instruction in geology, physics and chemistry applied to the fine arts. His duties eventually interfered with his first love, that of research, and he resigned his post in 1867.