The French chemist Louis
Pasteur devoted his life to solving practical problems of industry, agriculture,
and medicine. His discoveries have saved countless lives and created new wealth
for the world. Among his discoveries are the pasteurization process and ways of
preventing silkworm diseases, anthrax, chicken cholera, and rabies. Pasteur
sought no profits from his discoveries, and he supported his family on his
professor's salary or on a modest government allowance. In the laboratory he was
a calm and exact worker; but once sure of his findings, he vigorously defended
them. Pasteur was an ardent patriot, zealous in his ambition to make France
great through science.