Table of Contents for Pasteur and Modern Science

Figure List viii
Foreword xi
About the Author xxi
 
1 From Schoolboy to Scientist 1
Birth and Background 2
A Schoolboy Shows Promise 6
Pasteur as Painter 7
The Urge for Perfection 11
 
2 A Student of Crystals 13
A Crystallographic Problem 14
A Great Discovery 17
The Confirmation: A New Field of Science 19
 
3 Pasteur's First Steps Toward Biology 21
Madame Pasteur: Companion and Collaborator 24
Separating Crystals with Fungi 25
The Asymmetry of the Universe 26
Asymmetry and the Development of Biochemistry 28
 
4 From Crystals to Fermentation 30
Living "Ferments" 31
The Nature of Fermentation 32
Sour Milk: The Beginning of Scientific Microbiology 34
Over One Hundred Years Later 36
 
5 A Crowded Life 38
Working Conditions in Paris 39
A Single Gigantic Problem 40
 
6 Spontaneous Generation 41
Grapes With and Without Yeasts 43
The Swan-neck Flask 44
The Germ Theory 48
The New Science of Bacteriology 50
 
7 Pasteurization 52
Wine, Vinegar, and Beer 54
Partial Sterilization or "Pasteurization" 56
New Understanding of Ancient Practices 60
 
8 Utilizing Microbes 67
The Indispensable Links 68
The Benefits of Precise Knowledge 69
 
9 Biochemistry and Life 73
Pasteur Persists 74
The Discovery of "Anaerobic" Life 76
Point of Synthesis: The Utilization of Oxygen 79
A Definition of Fermentation 80
The Chemical Mystery of Life 81
 
10 Victory Over Disease 84
Contagion and the Potato Blight 85
Lister Acknowledges a Debt 88
Diseased Silkworms: Another Triumph 91
Personal Tragedy: The Indomitable Will 94
 
11 The Germ Theory is Established 98
Anthrax: A Final Proof 99
Rabies: The Discovery of Filterable Viruses 102
Extension of the Experimental Method 105
 
12 The Birth of Immunology 109
The Origins of Vaccination 111
From Vision to Practice 113
The Dramatic Prophylaxis of Rabies 117
The Dream of "Chemical Vaccines" 123
From Folklore to Knowledge 125
 
13 Further Applications of the Germ Theory 127
Biological Control and Warfare with Microbes 127
Antibiotics and Aseptic Surgery 129
A Neglected Lesson 131
 
14 Pasteur's Dilemma--The Road Not Taken 132
 
15 A Dedicated Life 140
Pasteur and Family 141
Pasteur and Country 144
A Higher Dedication 146
Of His Time and Timeless 149
 
Chronology 152
Glossary 155
Further Reading 161
Index 163