Louis Pasteur Facts
In this article, we’re going to learn some fun facts about Louis Pasteur. But first, a little bit of history on medicine and health!
Hundreds of years ago, when Louis Pasteur was alive, the world was a completely different place to how we know it now.
Back then people hardly knew anything about diseases or why they got sick. They couldn’t understand why they felt the way they did.
What did people believe about sickness? Well, it was very common that people thought that evil spirits or spells were cast against them to make them sick.
They also believed that when the planets lined up, or someone had sinned an illness would hit them. Even bad blood was blamed for sicknesses.
There were certainly some odd remedies used back then.
Now don’t get grossed out, but they used to put leeches on people’s bodies so that they could suck out all the bad blood. Would you be keen for leeches to be put all over your body if you were sick? We think not.
If they thought that evil spirits were the cause then people’s brains were sometimes cut open to get rid of those nasty spirits. Now that certainly doesn’t sound good!
Even hot pokers were put into people’s bodies to make them feel better. But it’s hardly surprising that none of these worked, and people stayed sick. Bet you’re glad we have different ways of treating illness now!
Theories and Discoveries
Louis Pasteur was a scientist and was born in France in 1822.
He was an average student, but he preferred to draw and paint. Later however, he got a doctorate degree.
Some scientists thought that germs caused sickness but most people didn’t believe this at all.
Our wonderful Pasteur proved that germs could sour milk, or juice could turn to wine and most importantly that germs could make people sick. Hooray for Louis Pasteur.
He made heaps of important discoveries related to the immune system, vaccinations, chemistry and the how diseases were caused.
He eventually became a chemistry professor at different colleges in France, and this is where he did his research on food and drinks.
One of his most famous discoveries was pasteurisation. He found out that if you heated milk you would get rid of the germs inside of it. So now, this is how our milk is made and it makes it much safer for us.
He also invented vaccines for cholera, anthrax, small pox and rabies. He was certainly one clever man, who changed medicine!
His vaccination for rabies saved the life of a young boy in 1885. This boy was the first person to ever receive this kind of treatment.
The Life of Louis Pasteur
In 1848 he discovered how people were either left-handed or right-handed and that every living creature had molecules in their bodies that twisted in either of these directions. Wow!
He unfortunately had a really bad brain stroke in 1868 which left him partly paralysed, but he still carried on with his research.
The word ‘vaccination’ as we know it today was made up by none other than this great man.
He never, ever shook hands with anybody, even royalty. He was way too scared of catching any diseases.
Now you know all about the great man, Louis Pasteur, who made amazing discoveries that changed the world forever!
Words to Know
Evil – Wanting to do harm.
Sin – Bad deeds.
Poker – A pointed metal tool used in fires / fireplaces.
Pasteurisation – The process of heating milk to get rid of germs.
