Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France, graduated as a scientist from Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, served as a professor of chemistry, later as a director of scientific studies, and founded the Pasteur Institute. His discovery that most infectious diseases are caused by germs, known as the ‘germ theory of disease’, is one of the most important in scientific history.

Pasteur’s numerous contributions to chemistry, microbiology and medicine are summarized elsewhere. Generally speaking, his work was instrumental in dispelling myths handed down from Antiquity about the nature of living things, and revealing that living organisms operate by principles that can be understood and manipulated by rational beings.