MSU Gallery of Chemists' Photo-Portraits and Mini-Biographies

* Louis Pasteur

1822-1895

 

Portrait: 91
Location - Floor: First - Zone: Room 136 - Wall: South - Sequence: 3
Source: Kedzie Collection
Sponsor: Thomas Kormos


 
Louis Pasteur
 

The scientific contributions of Pasteur were among the most valuable in the history of science, and he is claimed equally by chemistry and microbiology. Best known to chemists for his work on the tartaric acids, he recognized the structural relationships (now called chirality) responsible for optical isomerism, and that microorganisms can distinguish between enantiomers. Pasteur also showed that microorganisms cause fermentation and various diseases, and he developed methods for "pasteurization" and for vaccination against anthrax and rabies. His work saved the wine, beer, and silkworm industries for France.