Each discovery in the body of Pasteurs work represents a link in an uninterrupted chain, beginning with molecular asymmetry and ending with his rabies prophylaxis, by way of his research in fermentation, silkworm, wine and beer diseases, asepsis and vaccines.
From Crystallography to Molecular Asymmetry
In 1847 at the age of 26, Pasteur did his first work on molecular asymmetry, bringing together the principles of crystallography, chemistry and optics. He formulated a fundamental law: asymmetry differentiates the organic world from the mineral world. In other words, asymmetric molecules are always the product of life forces. His work became the basis of a new science --stereochemistry.
Research on Fermentation and Spontaneous Generation
At the request of a distiller named Bigo from the north of France, Pasteur began to examine why alcohol becomes contaminated with undesirable substances during fermentation. He soon demonstrated that each sort of fermentation is linked to the existence of a specific microorganism or ferment -- a living being that one can study by cultivation in an appropriate, sterile medium. This insight is the basis of microbiology.
Pasteur delivered the fatal blow to the doctrine of spontaneous generation, the theory held for 20 centuries that life could arise spontaneously in organic materials. He also developed a germ theory. At the same time, he discovered the existence of life without oxygen:
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