The French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) is famous for his germ theory and for the development of vaccines.

Louis Pasteur was born on Dec. 27, 1822, in the small town of Dôle, the son of a tanner. He studied in the college of Arbois and at Besançon, where he graduated in arts in 1840. As a student preparing for the prestigious École Normale Supérieure of Paris, he did not doubt his ability. When he gained admittance by passing fourteenth on the list, he refused entry; taking the examination again, he won third place and accepted. For his doctorate his attention was directed to the then obscure science of crystallography. This was to have a decisive influence on his career.

Stereochemistry Investigations

Pasteur, under special dispensation from the minister of education, received a leave of absence from his duties as professor of physics...