Louis Pasteur

Pasteur, Louis (1822–95), French microbiologist and chemist. He conducted important studies on fermentation and bacteria (which resulted in his theory that living germs spread disease). He disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and popularized the sterilization of medical equipment, which saved many lives. He discovered anthrax and rabies vaccines and developed pasteurization (the use of heat to kill germs), a process of great economic import. The Pasteur Institute (Paris) was founded in 1888 as a teaching and research center on contagious and virulent diseases.

See also: Bacteria; Fermentation.