| 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 |