Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) and his extraordinary contribution to medicine and science. It is said few people have saved more lives than Pasteur. A chemist, he showed that otherwise identical molecules could exist as 'left' and 'right-handed' versions and that molecules produced by living things were always left-handed. He proposed a germ theory to replace the idea of spontaneous generation. He discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease. He began the process named after him, pasteurisation, heating liquids to 50-60 C to kill microbes. He saved the beer and wine industries in France when they were struggling with microbial contamination. He saved the French silk industry when he found a way of protecting healthy silkworm eggs from disease. He developed vaccines against anthrax and rabies and helped establish immunology. Many of his ideas were developed further after his lifetime, but one of his legacies was a charitable body, the Pasteur Institute, to continue research into infectious disease.
With
Andrew Mendelsohn Reader in the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London
Anne Hardy Honorary Professor at the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
and
Michael Worboys Emeritus Professor in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:02.0 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:05.0 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website. |
| 0:07.0 | And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:12.0 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:14.0 | Hello, Louis Pasteur born in France in 1822 was one of the great scientists of the 19th century. |
| 0:20.0 | And his work still has a profound impact on our lives today. |
| 0:24.0 | He was the first to manufacture a vaccine, tackling anthrax and then rabies |
| 0:28.0 | which led to the development of vaccines for other diseases. |
| 0:31.0 | His research persuaded surgeons with the need for antiseptics to stop organisms in their infecting open wounds. |
| 0:37.0 | He discovered why wine, beer and milk can go off before they're ready to drink |
| 0:42.0 | and found a way to preserve them known as pasteurization. |
| 0:46.0 | By the time of his death in 1895 he was known as one of the founders of microbiology. |
| 0:50.0 | He cut across disciplines, though where he said no such things as pure and applied signs, |
| 0:55.0 | there were only signs and the application of signs. |
| 0:59.0 | We admit you discussed the life in work of Louis Pasteur, Andrew Mendelsson, |
| 1:03.0 | reader in the School of History at Queen Mary University of London, |
| 1:07.0 | Anne Hardy, on-re-properter at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, |
| 1:12.0 | and Michael Warboys, emeritus professor in the history of science, technology and medicine |
| 1:16.0 | at the University of Manchester. |
| 1:18.0 | Andrew Mendelsson, Pasteur's background is important, as most people, is interest. |
| 1:23.0 | Could you tell us what part of france you grew up in, what it was like, and what do you get out of it? |
... |
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