Chronicles the life of Pasteur from his childhood in early nineteenth-century France to his years searching for the reasons behind diseases and how to cure them.

In The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, Gerald Geison has written a controversial biography that finally penetrates the secrecy that has surrounded much of this legendary scientist's laboratory work. Geison uses Pasteur's laboratory notebooks, made available only recently, and his published papers to present a rich and full account of some of the most famous episodes in the history of science and their darker sides--for example, Pasteur's rush to develop the rabies vaccine and the human risks his haste entailed. The discrepancies between the public record and the "private science" of Louis Pasteur tell us as much about the man as they do about the highly competitive and political world he learned to master. Although experimental ingenuity served Pasteur well, he also owed much of his success to the polemical virtuosity and political savvy that won him unprecedented financial support from the French state during the late nineteenth century. But a close look at his greatest achievements raises ethical issues. In the case of Pasteur's widely publicized anthrax vaccine, Geison reveals its initial defects and how Pasteur, in order to avoid embarrassment, secretly incorporated a rival colleague's findings to make his version of the vaccine work. Pasteur's premature decision to apply his rabies treatment to his first animal-bite victims raises even deeper questions and must be understood not only in terms of the ethics of human experimentation and scientific method, but also in light of Pasteur's shift from a biological theory of immunity to a chemical theory--similar to ones he had often disparaged when advanced by his competitors. Through his vivid reconstruction of the professional rivalries as well as the national adulation that surrounded Pasteur, Geison places him in his wider cultural context. In giving Pasteur the close scrutiny his fame and achievements deserve, Geison's book offers compelling reading for anyone interested in the social and ethical dimensions of science. Originally published in 1995. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In Louis Pasteur, the distinguished French immunologist and physician Patrice Debre offers the most extensive, balanced, and detailed account of the scientist's life, struggles, and contributions yet written. First published in France in 1994 to mark the centenary of Pasteur's death in 1895, Debre's biography draws heavily on Pasteur's own scientific notebooks and writings to present a complete critical account of his discoveries and of the controversies they raised with other scientists, occasionally with his closest associates, and with historians ever since. Debre provides an extremely well documented narrative of Pasteur's life and family, as well as his relations with the French government and the established scientific and medical communities. And he places Pasteur in historical context, describing the politics and culture of nineteenth-century France and sketching portraits of the other scientists, including Marcelin Berthelot, Emile Littre, and Claude Bernard, whose life or work became intertwined with Pasteur's.

Retells the story of Louis Pasteur, whose unwavering belief in the concept of germs led to a cure for rabies.

Follows the life and career of the French scientist who proved the existence of germs and their connection with diseases.