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Louis Pasteur; the germ theory

60 second histories

This video covers:  How Louis Pasteur discovered pasteurisation and worked on his germ theory

Bonjour, I am Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, famous for my germ theory. You see many years ago I became interested in microorganisms or germs, after being asked by a brewery to find out why their vats of fermented beer were going bad. I discovered that it was a particular microorganism that was causing the beer to go off and I developed a process to kill off the germs by heating the liquid then cooling it down. This process is called pasteurisation, after me. Word soon got around about my discovery at the brewery and I was soon in demand in other industries that had similar problems. It would appear that germs were responsible not only for turning fermented beer bad, but also wine and vinegar and also for turning milk sour. I was very keen to work on my germ theory further so I entered a scientific competition organised by the French Academy of Science. I was up against another leading French scientist, Pouchet; and was going to have to beat him to win the competition.
Eras: 
Medicine & Health
Victorian
Topics: 
Key people
Medicine & health
Character: 
Louis Pasteur
Key words: 
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