Louis Pasteur: Free Lance of Science

In the words of one of his English contemporaries, Louis Pasteur was "the most perfect man who ever entered the kingdom of science." His contributions to the development of microbiology and medicine were profound, both practically (Pasteurization and vaccination) and theoretically (the germ model of disease). He spoke out forcefully on issues of the day, especially when they concerned public health, and his research included studies on rabies, anaerobic life, childbirth fever, silkworms, and beer. Ren Dubos's outstanding biography examines Pasteur's manifold genius in the context of the era--Pasteur was an exemplary nineteenth-century bourgeois--and in light of recent environmental thought. His view of Pasteur as ecologist, the first to formulate in concrete terms a biological and chemical theory of global ecosystems, is only one of the many surprising insights into a man whose emblematic fame has obscured a complex and rich life.

Author: René Dubos
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 03/22/1986
Pages: 462
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.27lbs
Size: 8.82h x 5.23w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780306802621

About the Author
René Dubos (1901-1982) was an eminent microbiologist and experimental pathologist. For many years professor emeritus at Rockefeller University, he wrote numerous books, including So Human an Animal, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize.