I was really surprised to learn that Pasteur never won a Nobel prize! In the movie of Pasteur and in Dr. Alber’s talk, we learned that Pasteur made anthrax and rabies vaccines, discovered the role of germs when it comes to diaereses, sterilization, and much more! Pasteur was a very driven man, which helped him in his life and work. His motivation didn’t have to do with money or fame but rather to be a successful scholar. According to Dr. Alber, Pasteur was a microbial physiologist who did most of his work by himself. Pasteur most famous experiment was when he used a straight-necked flask and heat it up; since microbes are in the air , they had an opportunity to get inside the flask and grow in the broth easily. He took a swan-necked flask and also heated up the broth; Since the flask’s neck was curved, microbes from the air couldn’t get in.
Pasteur growed up in Arbois, France. In Arbois, there is a museum that used to be the Pasteur house. Pasteur built a laboratory in his home and would use in the summers. He built fume hoods and Bunsen burners; the lab seemed like a “state of the art” lab at the time. I was interested in learning that Pasteur also tested the incubation of microbes and had an incubation room in his lab. I never knew that Pasteur studied milk, wine, and vinegar and why they ferment. He discovered that they can ferment with the elimination of air or aeration. Robert Koch was another microbial physiologist who worked on Bacillus anthracis, TB, and cholera. Since Koch was German, Pasteur was not a fan of him.
I was really glad to learn and talk about Pasteur because, in previous classes, I was just told about how he did the swan neck vs straight flask experiment. We would never go into detail of his life. I never knew about the sheep vs. anthrax experiment and his work with rabies.